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BIOGRAPHY 


OF  THE  SIGNERS  TO  THE 


DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


BY  JOHN  SANDERSON 

V 

T?.YvWnTr. 


EASTERN  DISTRICT  OF  PENNSYLVANIA,  to  wit: 

BE  IT  REMEMBERED,  that  on  the  28th  day  of  April,  in  the  forty- 
fourth  year  of  the  Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America,  A.  D. 
1820,  Joseph  M.  Sanderson,  of  the  said  district,  hath  deposited  in  this 
office  the  title  of  a  book,  the  right  whereof  he  claims  as  proprietor,  in  the 
words  following,  to  wit: 

"  Biography  of  the  Signers  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  by  John 

Sanderson. 

In  conformity  to  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  United  States, entitled,  "  An 
act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning,  by  securing  the  copies  of  maps, 
charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  proprietors  of  such  copies,  during 
the  times  therein  mentioned,"  and  also  to  the  act  entitled  "  An  act  sup- 
plementary to  an  act  entitled,  an  act  for  the  encouragement  of  learning, 
by  securing  the  copies  of  maps,  charts,  and  books,  to  the  authors  and  pro- 
prietors of  such  copies,  during  the  times  therein  mentioned,"  and  extending 
the  benefits  thereof  to  the  arts  of  designing,  engraving,  and  etching  histo- 
rical and  other  prints. 

DAVID  CALDWELL, 
Clerk  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


PREFACE,  h 


The  memory  of  those  eminent  personages,  ivho 
proclaimed  the  Independence  of  America,  by  the  me- 
morable events  and  imperishable  records,  to  which  their 
names  are  associated,  is  secure  from  the  injuries  of 
time;  although  the  biographer  should  be  silent  of 
their  merits,  and  no  monun  ental  inscriptions  tell 
where  their  sacred  ashes  are  deposited.  To  collect, 
hoivever,  the  important  events  of  their  lives,  and  espe- 
cially those  incidents  that  are  yet  trusted  to  the  pre- 
carious tenure  of  individual  knowledge,  appears  to 
me  an  honourable  employment;  and  one  which,  if 
rightly  executed,  may  not  be  ungrateful  to  posterity. 

There  are  indeed  some  obstacles  of  no  inconsidera- 
ble magnitude,  opposed  to  tlie  execution  of  the  under- 
taking, of  which  the  writer  is  not  unconscious.  By 
attempting  to  exhibit  so  numerous  a  combination  of 
cotemporary  statesmen,  engaged  in  Hie  same  trans- 
actions and  enterprizes,  and  in  a  corporate  capacity, 
he  is  circumscribed  in  prospect,  confined  to  a  unifor- 
mity of  scenery,  and  induced  almost  unavoidably  into 
tedious  and  frequent  repetitions.  He  is  likewise  sen- 
sible that  many  of  the  individuals  of  this  illustrious 


PREFACE. 


group,  notwithstanding  the  virtues  with  which  they 
were  adorned,  the  sacred  spirit  of  patriotism  and 
liberty  with  which  they  were  aninated,  were  nevert he- 
less  seldom  led  into  those  scenes  of  tumult  and  agita- 
tion, ivhich  embellish  the  narrations  of  the  biograplier, 
and  ivhich  rouse  and  keep  alive,  by  a  diversity  of  inci- 
dents, the  fancy  and  admiration  of  the  reader.  In 
this  case,  it  is  more  prudent  to  offend  by  brevity  than 
fatigue  by  monotonous  enumerations.  But  the  few 
and  modest  pages,  which  record  the  virtues  of  an 
Jlrislides,  though  less  amusing,  are  not  less  precious 
to  humanity,  than  the  volumes  that  have  been  lavished 
upon  the  victories  of  an  Alexander. 

To  the  first  number,  I  have  affixed  an  introduction, 
which,  referred  to  the  whole  extent  of  the  work,  will 
not  be  found  disproportionate;  and  as  the  seeds  of 
our  Liberty  and  Independence  uere  sown  with  the 
first  elements  of  the  country,  it  will  not  be  considered 
an  extraneous  or  incoherent  appendage. 

This  number  is  offered  under  disadvantages,  which 
may  not  exist  with  the  succeeding  ones.  Besides, 
being  the  first  pages  that  I  have  prepared  for  public 
notice,  they  have  been  composed  during  the  nights  of 
a  few  months,  and  depi'wed  of  the  benefits  of  revision, 
correction,  or  consultation.  There  are,  therefore, 
many  superfluities  I  should  have  retrenched,  many 
useful  additions  I  should  have  made,  with  a  more 
extensive  reading  and  reflection.  J  feel,  hoivever,  the 
confidence  that  there  will  exist  in  the  work  when  com- 
pleted, merits  that  will  redeem  its  many  imperfections, 
and  render  it  not  unworthy  the  patronage  and  com- 
mendations of  the  public. 


INTRODUCTION 


— 


A  VIEW  OF  THE  BRITISH  COLONIES  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 
FROM  THEIR  ORIGIN  TO  THEIR  INDEPENDENCE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Of  the  first  settlements,  character,  and  condition  of 
the  inhabitants. 

To  the  influence  of  commercial  enterprize,  we 
owe  the  commencement  of  the  British  empire  in 
America;  to  religious  and  political  persecutions,  the 
growth  and  subversion  of  it.  The  original  incentive 
to  the  colonization  of  Virginia,  was  the  hope  of  pos- 
sessing the  rich  mines  that  were  supposed  to  exist 
in  the  unexplored  regions  of  that  province.  But  the 
rapid  torrent  of  population,  which  afterwards  flowed 
into  it,  and  covered,  by  its  successive  inundations, 
the  other  portions  of  this  vast  territory,  was  agitated 
by  a  contrary  spirit.  The  emigrants  to  New  England, 
to  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  for  the  most  part, 
to  the  Carolinas,  were  distinguished  tor  their  piety 
or  superstition:  and,  for  the  exclusive  exercise  of 


IV  INTRODUCTION. 

their  devotions,  or  predominance  of  their  religion, 
they  cheerfully  resigned  all  temporal  interests  and 
affections.  A  portion  of  these,  having  encountered,  in 
its  fiercest  violence,  the  fury  of  theological  animosity, 
being  alternately  the  instruments  and  victims  of  it, 
renounced  the  unavailing  struggle  by  voluntary  mi- 
gration. A  part  were  banished  by  the  interdictions  of 
an  illiberal  government;  others  were  proscribed  by 
the  conscientious  bigotry  of  a  tyrant,  and  sought  a 
refuge  from  the  rage  of  their  persecutors,  amongst 
the  barbarians  of  the  desert. 

The  settlement  of  these  states  was  prosecuted  at 
a  time  when  the  principles  of  freedom,  after  an  ex- 
tinction of  many  centuries,  were  revived  in  the  mo- 
ther country;  and,  from  the  animosities,  factions  and 
furious  civil  wars  which  distracted  that  kingdom, 
there  was  produced,  for  the  population  of  America, 
a  resolute  and  enterprising  race  of  inhabitants.  Of 
these,  some  were  unsuccessful  in  rebellion  and 
fled  from  the  vengeance  of  the  laws;  others,  for 
a  known  attachment  to  liberty,  migrated  with  the 
connivance  of  their  sovereigns.  Next,  in  order,  we 
may  comprehend  those  who  pined  in  hopeless  po- 
verty from  the  exorbitant  exactions  of  corrupt  and 
rapacious  governments,  or  the  persecutions  of  adverse 
fortune.  Nor  were  these  inferior  to  the  partners  of 
their  exile  in  dignity  of  numbers,  strength  or  resolution 


INTRODUCTION.  V 

of  character.  Some,  also,  of  an  honest  ambition  and 
restless  spirit,  disdainful  of  inferiority,  wearied  of  the 
opprobrious  obscurity  to  which  their  merit  was  de- 
pressed by  the  ascendant  of  wealth,  by  the  influence 
of  privileged  orders,  and  by  the  struggles  and  strata- 
gems of  dishonorable  competition,  sought,  in  the  wild 
regions  of  an  uncivilized  world,  the  rewards  of  their 
enterprize,  or  security  from  unmerited  contempt. 

In  this  elemental  population,  the  English  charac- 
ter, in  conjunction  with  the  Irish  and  Scotch,  was 
predominant;  tinctured,  however,  in  no  small  de- 
gree, by  the  admixture  of  other  nations;  of  French, 
Swedes,  Hollanders,  and  Germans.  It  was  formed 
from  the  coalition  of  the  national  antipathies  and 
prepossessions  of  all  Europe,  animated  by  the  most 
imperious  passions  of  the  human  mind,  and  diversi- 
fied in  its  progress,  by  strange  contrasts  and  incom- 
patible associations.  Into  this  "  common  asylum  of 
mankind"  were  thrown,  by  the  alternate  waves  of 
revolution  and  faction,  the  stern,  bigoted  republican, 
and  the  adherent  of  his  murdered  sovereign.  The 
persecutor  found  refuge  amongst  the  victims  of 
his  persecution;  the  catholic  was  associated  with  the 
hugonot,  the  puritan  with  the  quaker,  the  pious 
divine  with  the  inexorable  fanatic. 

The  mother  country,  rarely  prodigal  towards  her 
colonial  offspring  in  acts  of  benevolence,  to  neglect  or 


VI  INTRODUCTION. 

injury,  sometimes  added  indignity  and  insult.    At  an 
age   in  which  their  tenderness  most  required  the 
cares  of  maternity,  when  they  had  already  merited, 
by  their  services  and  by  their  fidelity,  a  share  in  the 
distribution  of  public  honors  and  rewards,  she  turned 
loose  among  them  the  convicts  of  her  prisons.    This 
barbarous  policy  was,  however,  innoxious  in  its  conse- 
quence.   The  malefactors  thus  transported,  were,  for 
the  most  part,  victims  of  ecclesiastical  bigotry,  roy- 
alists hostile  to  the  tyranny  of  Cromwell,  refractory 
and  seditious  persons  who  had  meditated  or  attempt- 
ed rebellion  against  the  domineering  spirit  of  their 
kings,  or  criminal  only  by  the  ascendency  of  opposite 
factions.    Some  were  vagabonds  and  thieves.   But 
of  these,  the  number  was  too  inconsiderable  and  too 
extensively  diffused,  to  produce  contamination.   Cut 
off  from  the  nutriment  of  his  vices,  even  the  villain, 
by  honest  pursuits  and  the  predominance  of  good 
example,  was  reclaimed;  and  by  an  honorable  con- 
clusion of  his  life,  atoned  for  the  former  transgres- 
sions of  it.   From  such  ancestry,  we  may  add,  were 
the  descendants  of  Romulus,  the  models  of  every 
moral  excellence  which  adorns  human  nature,  and 
of  every  political  virtue  that  commands  the  admira- 
tion of  the  world. 

The  subsequent  population  which  reared  the  su- 
perstructure of  the  colonial  edifice  was  derived  prin- 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

cipally  from  a  continuation  of  the  causes  that  ori- 
ginally produced  it.  The  meritorious  character  of 
this  successive  accumulation  of  inhabitants,  and  the 
integrity  of  their  origin,  with  the  few  casual  excep- 
tions I  have  enumerated,  may  be  safely  inferred  from 
their  progress  in  the  career  of  prosperity,  their  im- 
provement in  the  arts,  the  humanity  of  their  institu- 
tions; and,  no  less  unequivocally,  from  a  simple  re- 
trospect of  the  condition  of  that  country  to  which 
they  removed,  and  a  consideration  of  the  motives  by 
which  men,  in  the  different  stages  of  society,  are  im- 
pelled to  migration. 

The  vagrant  and  inconstant  habits  of  the  barba- 
rian weaken  the  ties  which  connect  him  with  a  fixed 
habitation;  by  the  impulse  of  animal  feelings,  or  the 
instigation  of  a  warlike  spirit,  he  seeks  those  regions 
only  which  may  gratify  his  indolence  or  invite  his  ra- 
pacity. Among  the  inhabitants  of  civilized  nations, 
those  who  are  nursed  in  idleness  and  luxury,  less  de- 
voted to  virtue  than  to  pleasure,  are  seduced  from 
their  homes  by  the  vices  of  a  more  profligate  people, 
or  the  blandishments  of  a  milder  heaven.  The  ruf- 
fian is  regardless  of  country  or  kindred;  and,  in  the 
midst  of  corrupt  and  populous  communities,  seeks 
the  associates  of  his  crimes,  the  food  of  his  debauch- 
eries and  rapine.  The  spirit  of  enterprize,  the  sense 
of  dignity  are  extinguished  in  the  bosom  of  the  slave; 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

he  bends  his  neck,  with  voluntary  submission,  to  the 
yoke,  remains  with  a  brutal  instinct  within  the  narrow 
circle  of  his  servitude  and  subsistence,  and  is  remo- 
ved, but  by  the  lash,  from  the  dominions  of  his  mas- 
ter. Those  who  are  bound  by  the  charities  of  so- 
cial refinement,  by  friendship,  consanguinity,  or  the 
love  of  country,  are  impelled  to  expatriation  only  by 
the  force  of  irresistible  causes;  and,  when  disunited, 
by  the  pressure  of  honorable  misfortune,  from  the 
affections  and  congenialities  which  consecrate  the 
land  of  their  nativity,  animated  by  a  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence, by  piety  to  heaven  and  love  for  posterity, 
they  are  driven,  by  the  excitement  of  these  generous 
feelings,  to  seclusion  or  solitude,  where,  remote  from 
the  converse  and  inhumanity  of  their  fellow  creatures, 
they  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  industry,  and  se- 
curity from  pride,  oppression,  and  injustice. 

The  dominions  of  the  English  in  America,  were, 
two  centuries  ago,  covered  by  their  native  forests, 
and  inhabited  by  a  race  of  warlike  and  fierce  bar- 
barians, ignorant  of  the  enjoyments,  and  uncorrupted 
by  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  The  face  of  this  vast 
desert  is  now  smoothed,  and  its  fertile  plains  pour 
out  their  abundant  treasures  to  the  husbandman.  A 
people  thus  engaged  in  the  occupations  of  agricul- 
ture must  necessarily  possess  or  acquire  those  social 
virtues  which  are  inseparable  from  that  peaceful  and 


INTRODUCTION.  IX 

innocent  life.  Those  who  maintain  their  liberties  or 
assert  their  independence,  must  be  endowed  with  fa- 
culties adequate  to  the  conception  of  their  rights,  and 
with  courage  to  defend  them. 

The  colonists  proceeding,  for  the  most  part,  from 
the  same  country,  speaking  the  same  language,  and 
governed  by  similar  institutions,  were  characterized 
by  general  features  of  resemblance;  but  local  and 
accidental  causes,  and  religion,  which  has  a  power 
ful  influence  in  modifying  the  human  mind,  occa- 
sioned a  variety  of  genius  and  dispositions  among 
them,  which  their  subsequent  intercourse  and  politi- 
cal union  have  not  altogether  obliterated.  To  com- 
prehend these  peculiarities  we  must  refer  to  the  his- 
tory of  their  original  establishments  and  institutions. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

The  first  settlements  of  this  province  were  begun 
in  the  reign  of  king  James  the  first,  and  in  the  year 
1620.  The  reformation  was  scarcely  effected  in 
Englandby  the  propagation  of  the  doctrines  of  Luther, 
when  a  new  system  of  religion,  under  the  auspices  of 
Calvin,  again  excited  the  ungovernable  spirit  of  eccle- 
siastical dissention.  The  proselytes  of  the  latter,  to 
escape  the  persecutions  of  their  more  powerful  an- 
tagonists, retired  into  Holland,  and  there  observed, 
for  some  years,  the  ceremonies  of  their  religion,  in 

VOL.  I..  B 


INTRODUCTION. 


liberty,  security  and  neglect;  and  enjoyed  a  privilege, 
unusual  in  that  age,  of  following  the  guidance  of  the 
faculties  they  had  received  from  the  Deity  in  offering 
him  the  homage  of  their  devotions.  But,  fearing 
contamination  from  the  poisonous  contact  of  other 
persuasions,  and  dreading,  from  the  social  inter- 
course and  matrimonial  intermixture  of  strangers, 
the  final  extinction  of  their  sect,  they  resolved  to 
migrate  to  America.  There  they  hoped  to  worship 
God  in  peace,  during  their  own  lives,  and  transmit 
their  religion  unadulterated  into  the  bosom  of  their 
posterity.  From  their  extreme  opposition  to  the  exte- 
rior pomp  and  ceremony  of  the  Catholic  church,  from 
the  pure  and  abstract  nature  of  their  divinity,  and 
from  the  plainness  of  their  dress  and  deportment, 
they  acquired  or  assumed  the  appellation  of  puritans. 
They  were  obnoxious  to  the  British  government 
from  the  democratical  tendency  of  their  doctrines. 

These  forefathers  of  New  England,  consisting  of 
one  hundred  souls,  bore  with  them  their  aged  parents 
and  infant  children,  left  the  tombs  of  their  rela- 
tions, and  traversed,  in  the  infancy  of  navigation,  an 
ocean  of  three  thousand  miles.  They  established  their 
colony,  amidst  a  race  of  wild  and  ferocious  savages, 
in  the  rains  and  storms  of  an  intemperate  winter  and 
in  the  frightful  regions  of  a  wilderness  untrodden  by 
civilized  man.  An  enterprize  more  bold  and  adventu- 


INTRODUCTION.  XI 

rous,  more  glorious  and  important  in  its  consequen- 
ces, has  seldom  been  achieved  by  human  courage 
and  ambition.  Their  first  habitations  were  at  New 
Plymouth.  The  anniversary  of  their  landing  is  yet 
celebrated  among  their  descendants  by  thanksgiving 
and  by  such  emblematic  festivities  and  ceremonies 
as  represent  the  frugal  simplicity,  resignation  and 
christain  courage  of  these  pious  apostles  of  their 
liberty  and  religion.  The  stone  first  consecrated  by 
their  footsteps,  is  transported,  as  a  monument  of  the 
memorable  event,  to  the  centre  of  the  town,  and 
will,  no  doubt,  be  visited  in  future  ages,  as  an  object 
of  curiosity  or  veneration. 

The  sin  of  puritanism,  which  continued  at  this  time 
to  be  persecuted  with  unmitigated  rigour  in  England, 
furnished  to  the  infant  colony  an  increase  of  inhabi- 
tants. The  first  important  expedition,  composed  of 
fifteen  hundred  persons,  arrived  in  Massachusetts, 
and  founded,  in  1630,  the  towns  of  Salem,  Charles- 
ton, and  Boston.  In  this  adventure  were  many  per- 
sonages of  distinction  and  fortune.  Some  who  were 
afterwards  notorious  in  the  English  revolution.  Oliver 
Cromwell,  Hampden,  Pym  and  others,  who  had  per- 
haps, been  harmless  in  the  new  world,  were  detain- 
ed, after  their  embarkation,  by  an  improvident  pro- 
hibition of  their  sovereign,  and  reserved  for  the  sub- 
version of  his  throne. 


Xll  INTRODUCTION. 

Of  those  who  reached  their  place  of  destination, 
about  one  hundred,  less  terrified  by  the  fears  of  mar- 
tyrdom than  by  the  gloomy  prospects  of  the  wilder- 
ness, went  back  by  the  return  of  the  vessels  to  their 
native  country.  The  more  hardy  and  resolute  remain- 
ed. Of  these,  the  one  half  were  massacred,  during  the 
first  season,  by  the  savages,  or  perished  by  famine  and 
disease;  and  the  utmost  courage  was  required  in  the 
remainder,  to  maintain  their  existence  amidst  the  dan- 
gers that  environed  them.  But  the  ferocity  of  the 
savage  and  the  wild  beast,  and  even  the  deplorable 
calamities  of  hunger,  exhibited  to  the  imagination  of 
these  holy  adventurers  a  much  less  terrific  and  disgus- 
ting spectacle  than  that  which  they  had  left  behind 
them;  the  latin  prayers,  the  printed  service,  organs, 
ecclesiastical  mitres,  the  gorgeous  drapery  and  pom- 
pous exhibitions  of  the  church  of  Rome;  and  the  sa- 
tisfaction they  experienced,  of  being  so  far  removed 
from  the  odious  aspect  of  bishops,  prelates  and  the 
half  refined,  temporising  followers  of  Luther  admi- 
nistered a  consolation  to  them,  amidst  the  severities 
of  the  seasons,  the  glooms  and  sickly  atmosphere  of 
the  desert,  equal  to  the  rudest  afflictions  of  their  ad- 
versity. By  previous  sufferings,  by  the  rigours  of  po- 
verty and  persecution,  they  had  already  been  hardened 
into  a  constitutional  bravery,  and  were  now  animated 
not  only  by  the  inaccessible  security  of  their  religion, 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlll 

but  by  the  hope  of  communicating  its  sacred  inspi- 
ration to  the  natives  of  the  country,  and  of  redeem- 
ing the  numerous  souls  of  these  barbarians,  from  the 
flames  of  eternal  perdition.  By  the  operation  of 
these  powerful  causes,  they  were  enabled  to  prose- 
cute enterprizes  and  triumph  over  difficulties,  insu- 
perable in  the  ordinary  mood  and  temper  of  the 
human  mind. 

Although  the  inhabitants  of  this  state,  by  long  and 
unintermitted  injuries,  were  attached,  with  a  super- 
stitious reverence,  to  the  dogmas  of  their  religion; 
their  heavenly  contemplations,  and  theological  dis- 
putes, appear  very  rarely  to  have  abstracted  them 
from  their  temporal  or  municipal  concerns.  It  was 
in  Massachusetts,  that  the  first  rays  of  independence 
beamed  upon  our  country;  that  the  sparks  of  the  re- 
volution, first  kindled  into  flame.  And  the  history 
of  mankind,  does  not  furnish  the  example  of  a  peo- 
ple, who  have  risen  with  a  more  rapid  ascent,  to  the 
same  elevation  of  prosperity,  or  have  defended,  with 
a  more  resolute,  high-spirited  and  dignified  courage, 
the  rational  principles  of  political  freedom. 

CONNECTICUT. 

In  the  province  of  Connecticut  the  first  settlements 
were  made  at  Hartford,  in   1635,  by  emigrations 


XIV  INTRODUCTION. 

from  Massachusetts,  and  contained,  at  the  end  of  the 
succeeding  year,  about  eight  hundred  inhabitants. 

This  scheme  of  colonization  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  induced  by  the  temptations  of  climate,  by  the 
advantages  of  position  or  fertility  of  soil;  but  to  have 
been  undertaken  by  those  who  were  distinguished 
in  their  sect  for  a  more  romantic  or  enthusiastic 
spirit  of  devotion.  They  sought,  perhaps,  in  the  intri- 
cate labyrinths  of  the  desert,  a  retreat  less  accessible  to 
the  infidelity  which,  in  Massachusetts,  had  assailed 
the  integrity  of  the  church.  From  a  detail  of  the  ca- 
lamities and  perils  of  the  enterprize,  the  adventurers 
seem  to  have  courted  the  approbation  of  heaven  by 
a  display  of  religious  intrepidity.  Leaving  a  colony 
already  established,  in  want  of  population  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  superfluous  waste  of  territory,  whole 
congregations,  men,  women,  and  children,  preceded 
by  their  clergy,  subsisting  on  the  milk  of  their  cattle, 
penetrated  a  region  unexplored  and  almost  impervi- 
ous to  man  or  beast.  The  intermediate  wilderness, 
through  which  they  passed,  in  solemn  and  awful 
procession,  rung,  it  is  said,  with  the  praises  of  God. 
The  Indians  followed  them  in  silent  admiration. 

A  second  settlement  was  made  at  New  Haven,  in 
1637,  by  emigrants  immediately  from  England,  of 
still  more  rigid  and  inflexible  sanctity.  Their  earliest 
ecclesiastical  ordinance,  was  to  prohibit  from  the 
privileges  of  freemen,  and  their  children  from  the 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

rites  of  baptism,  all  such  as  were  not  in  full  commu- 
nion with  the  church,  or  did  not  conform  implicitly 
with  the  formalities  of  the  established  religion.  And 
this  regulation  they  maintained,  against  the  recom- 
mendation of  a  more  liberal  policy  by  the  citizens  of 
Hartford,  with  a  stubborn  and  relentless  pertinacity. 
All  civil  magistrates  were  chosen  from  the  clergy,  or 
from  the  most  devout  and  influential  members  of  the 
church,  whom  they  called  pillars;  and  the  decisions  of 
these  holy  men  were  received,  in  the  affairs  of  govern- 
ment, as  the  oracles  of  truth.  They  were  particularly 
distinguished  by  their  antipathy  to  quakers.  The  laws 
of  God,  as  delivered  to  Moses  and  the  prophets,  were 
adopted  as  their  code  of  jurisprudence,  and  were 
declared  sufficient  for  the  administration  of  the  tem- 
poral as  well  as  spiritual  concerns  of  the  common- 
wealth.  But  although  vice  was  prohibited  among 
them  rather  by  manners  and  by  the  habits  of  industry 
and  good  order,  than  by  laws,  they  soon  discovered 
the  necessity  of  a  departure  from  their  favourite  sys- 
tem of  legislation. 

Some  commercial  regulations  of  these  two  colo- 
nies interrupted  their  harmony  with  their  neighbours 
of  Massachusetts,  and  religious  discussions  involved 
them  in  frequent  discord  with  each  other.  Their  po- 
litical institutions  were  purely  republican,  and  they 
have  preserved  them  with  little  alteration  or  vicissi- 


XVi  INTRODUCTION. 

tude  to  the  present  day.  They  were  united  under  the 
same  jurisdiction  in  1665,  from  a  necessity  of  coope- 
ration against  the  contiguous  tribes  of  savages,  with 
whom  they  maintained  a  perpetual  and  sanguinary 
warfare.  In  battle  they  were  no  less  skillful  and  in- 
trepid soldiers,  than  in  peace  they  were  industrious 
husbandmen,  rigid  moralists,  and  bigoted  theologians. 

RHODE  ISLAND 

A  religious  controversy  in  Massachusetts  occasion 
ed,  in  the  year  1636,  the  settlement  of  Rhode  Island, 
where  the  weaker  party  sought  refuge  from  the  fury 
of  their  implacable  antagonists.  They  had  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  community,  and  were  banish- 
ed, by  the  authority  of  the  magistrates,  principally, 
for  preaching  and  attempting  to  propagate  the  doc- 
trine of  toleration.  This  was  regarded  by  the  divines 
of  Massachusetts  as  an  impious  rebellion  against 
heaven,  or  what  they  esteemed  no  less  iniquitous 
against  the  sacred  authority  of  the  puritanical  church. 
It  was,  besides,  a  transgression  of  the  fundamental 
laws  of  the  province;  for  here,  as  well  as  in  Con- 
necticut, no  individual  was  entitled  to  the  freedom  of 
the  body  politic,  who  did  not  believe  in  the  infallibility 
of  the  established  hierarchy,  and  yield  an  implicit 
obedience  to  its  sacred  institutions 


INTRODUCTION.  XVII 

Rhode  Island  became,  henceforth,  an  asylum  for 
the  unfortunate;  for  the  victims  of  colonial  as  well 
as  of  European  persecution,  and  its  inhabitants 
have,  at  all  times,  been  distinguished  for  their  hospi- 
tality, humanity  and  liberality  of  sentiment. 

NEWHAMPSHIRE. 

Settlements  had  been  made  from  the  adjacent 
colonies  in  New  Hampshire,  as  early  as  1623;  but, 
existing  under  distinct  and  imperfect  systems  of  go- 
vernment, were  united  in  1641,  though  with  much 
opposition,  to  Massachusetts.  They  remained  under 
this  authority,  with  some  temporary  exceptions, 
until  the  year  1741,  when  they  assumed  a  separate 
and  independent  jurisdiction.  Being  exposed  to  per- 
petual warfare  with  the  savage  tribes  in  the  vicinity, 
they  nourished  a  hardy  and  martial  youth,  for  the  ser- 
vice of  their  country,  who  were  deservedly  esteemed 
among  the  most  brave  and  gallant  soldiers  of  the  re- 
volution. 

It  was  computed,  in  1642,  that  about  twenty-five 
thousand  emigrants  had  arrived  upon  the  shores  of 
New  England.  Fifty  towns  or  villages  had  been 
founded,  and  contained  nearly  eight  thousand  men 
capable  of  bearing  arms.  But  the  revolution  of  the 
mother  country  and  consequent  ascendance  of  the 

VOIi.   i.  c 


XV411  INTRODUCTION. 

puritans  at  this  period  arrested  the  rapid  progress  of 
emigration. 

The  Indians  had  long  witnessed  with  jealousy,  the 
unceremonious  intrusion  of  these  strangers  upon  their 
native  grounds,  to  which  their  pre-occupancy,  they 
believed,  had  given  them  an  inviolable  title.  The 
sales  of  vast  territories  made  by  their  chiefs,  for 
worthless  trinkets,  they  regarded  as  an  imposition 
practised  upon  their  inexperience,  and  without  obli- 
gation. Animated  to  revenge  by  repeated  injuries, 
and  taught,  by  partial  defeat,  the  necessity  of  union, 
the  most  active  and  vigorous  measures  were  con- 
certed among  them  at  this  time  for  the  recovery  of" 
their  dominions.  Hostilities  were  likewise  threaten- 
ed by  the  Dutch  of  New  York;  and  the  colonies  of 
New  England,  impelled  by  these  alarms,  entered  into 
a  political  association  for  their  mutual  defence;  with 
the  exception,  however,  of  the  apostate  province  of 
Rhode  Island,  which,  at  the  instance  of  Massachu- 
setts, was  excluded  from  a  participation  in  the  con- 
federacy from  abhorrence  of  her  heretical  opinions. 
But,  abandoned  to  the  exertion  of  her  own  faculties, 
she  courted  successfully  the  friendship  of  the  savages, 
and  by  acts  of  benevolence  enjoyed  that  security 
which  the  others  purchased  by  the  force  and  terror 
of  their  arms.  A  constitution  was  framed,  and  a  ge- 
neral assembly  instituted  to  preside  over  the  interests 


W-  f 

INTRODUCTION.  v'2\  .'V-xlx" 

of  the  confederate  states.  Their  connection  subsist- 
ed during  forty  years,  and  contributed  not  a  little  to- 
wards the  prosperity  of  New  England.  It  produced 
a  greater  intercourse  and  conformity  of  character 
among  the  inhabitants,  an  extinction  of  their  jealou- 
sies; gave  success  to  their  foreign  enterprises  and 
vigour  to  their  domestic  administration. 

NEW  YORK. 

New  York  was  established  by  the  Dutch  in  1614, 
and  continued  in  their  possession  until  the  year  1664 
when  it  became  subject  to  the  English  crown.  Set- 
tlements were  undertaken  near  Albany  and  the  town 
of  New  York,  which  flourished  under  the  care  of  a 
patient,  persevering  and  laborious  race  of  adventu- 
rers, among  whom  a  spirit  of  war  was  kept  alive  by 
a  perpetual  and  unequal  contest  with  the  savages, 
and  with  the  colonies  of  Virginia  and  New  England. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  province  were  of  republi- 
can extraction.  They  were  the  countrymen  of  De 
Witt,  Tromp,  and  De  Ruyter;  their  ancestors,  in  a 
struggle  of  half  a  century,  had  shaken  from  their 
necks  the  yoke  of  a  tyrant;  and  by  economy,  indus- 
try, and  love  of  liberty,  had  reared  their  inconsider- 
able territories  to  rank  and  reputation  among  the 
nations  of  Europe.     In  America,  they  cultivated  the 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

same  free  institutions,  and  extended  their  forts  and 
settlements,  with  characteristic  enterprize,  from  the 
banks  of  the  Connecticut,  through  Jersey  and  Dela- 
ware to  the  eastern  confines  of  Maryland.  They 
defended  their  possessions  with  obstinate  valour,  and 
though  forced  to  yield  them,  at  length,  to  the  superi- 
ority of  the  English  arms,  they  retained  a  predomi- 
nant influence  in  their  subsequent  administration. 
The  colony  of  New  York,  after  its  conquest,  was 
annexed  to  the  jurisdiction  of  New  England,  until 
1691,  and  then  erected  into  a  distinct  and  independ- 
ent government. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

The  first  settlements  of  the  Jerseys  by  the  Swedes 
were  cotemporary  with  those  of  New  York.  In  1676 
they  were  divided  into  East  and  West  Jersey,  the 
former  of  which,  in  1682,  was  transferred  by  the 
proprietors  to  William  Penn,  and  contained  at  this 
time,  about  seven  hundred  families.  They  were  con- 
solidated in  1702  into  a  single  government,  and  con- 
nected successively  with  New  England  and  New 
York,  until  they  assumed,  in  1738,  an  independent 
jurisdiction,  under  the  title  of  New  Jersey. 

In  all  the  vicissitudes  of  her  colonial  government, 
this  province  maintained  her  free  institutions  unsul- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

lied,  and  repelled  the  arbitrary  pretensions  of  her 
regal  governors,  on  various  occasions,  with  a  resolute 
and  magnanimous  spirit.  During  the  revolutionary 
war,  she  sustained  more  than  an  equal  share  of  the 
evils  of  it;  and  was  the  theatre  of  some  of  its  most 
glorious  and  important  events. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Philadelphia,  the  metropolis  of  this  province,  was 
founded  in  the  year  1689.  This  city  is  celebrated 
for  the  rapidity  of  its  increase,  the  humanity  of  its 
institutions,  and  no  less  distinguished  by  the  singu- 
larity of  its  primitive  inhabitants.  They  came  to 
America  under  the  patronage  of  William  Penn,  a 
man  eminent  for  his  rank,  education  and  virtues, 
and  sought  upon  the  solitary  shores  of  the  Delaware, 
a  refuge  from  the  injuries  and  indignities  they  had 
suffered  in  their  native  country.  They  had  incurred 
the  hostility  of  other  denominations,  and  exasperated 
against  them  all  the  rage  of  religious  insanity,  by  the 
peculiar  character  and  genius  of  their  institutions. 

They  were  Christians  without  the  rites  of  baptism 
or  communion,  and  what  may  appear  a  solecism  in 
the  ecclesiastical  history  of  those  days,  they  were 
sectarians  without  the  spirit  of  persecution.  The 
most  pacific  measures  were  pursued  in  all  their  se- 


XX11  INTRODUCTION. 


cular  transactions.,  and  no  intricate  theological  dog- 
mas interrupted  the  harmony  of  their  devotions. 
They  imitated;  in  their  deportment,  the  patriarchal 
simplicity  of  the  apostles,  rejecting  every  species  of 
superfluity  in  their  habiliments,  phraseology,  and 
gesticulation.  All  phrases  of  compliment  or  adulation 
were  expunged  from  their  language,  as  the  monu- 
ments of  barbarism  or  indications  of  pride  and  ser- 
vility. The  appellations  of  excellence,  of  mightiness, 
holiness,  and  all  other  titular  marks  of  distinction, 
they  reserved  for  their  Creator,  and  thought  them 
unbecoming  the  weakness  and  imbecility  of  man. 
They  approached  their  chief  as  the  Romans  did  the 
masters  of  the  world.  No  attitudes  of  humility  were 
permitted  in  their  salutations  or  worship.  They  re- 
mained covered  in  the  presence  of  their  prince,  and 
stood  erect  before  the  majesty  of  heaven. 

Other  legislators,  as  Lycurgus  and  Numa,  inspired 
the  love  of  virtue  by  theatrical  ceremonies  and  en- 
thusiasm; Penn,  by  the  sober  sanctity  of  his  example. 
Without  a  display  of  the  authority,  or  formality  of 
the  law,  he  administered  justice;  without  priests  and 
without  anathemas  or  imprecations  he  propagated 
the  truths  of  the  gospel.  By  circumscribing  their 
necessities,  or  by  mutual  acts  of  benevolence,  his 
people  were  exempt  from  the  odium  of  beggary,  and 
from  the  reproach  and  disgrace  of  domestic  servitude. 


INTRODUCTION.  XX1I1 

The  science  and  care  of  the  physician  were  supplied 
among  them,  by  industry,  temperance,  and  modera- 
tion of  their  passions. 

Their  religion,  like  most  others,  took  its  rise  in 
the  wild  enthusiasm  of  an  ignorant  multitude,  and 
was  marked  in  its  origin  by  irregularities  repugnant 
to  the  spirit  of  Christianity.  Extravagant  grimaces 
and  contortions  of  limbs,  in  their  worship,  as  it  is 
related  by  some,  and  which,  in  all  ages,  have  been 
the  usual  marks  of  inspiration,  gave  to  this  commu- 
nity the  name  of  quakers;  their  love  of  equality,  their 
reciprocal  charities  and  tenderness  for  each  other, 
entitled  them  to  the  appellation  of  friends.  By  the 
plainness  of  their  manners;  by  their  exemption  from 
the  reigning  follies  and  frivolities  of  the  world,  they 
were  regarded  as  a  strange,  ludicrous,  and  eccentric 
people.  They  were  pitied  by  the  courtier;  hated, 
scourged,  hung  by  the  bigot;  laughed  at  by  fools,  and 
admired  by  philosophers. 

In  imitating  the  divine  author  of  their  religion,  the 
quakers  submitted,  without  resentment,  to  mockery 
and  insult;  without  vengeance,  to  imprisonment  and 
death.  By  too  rigid  a  construction  of  his  precepts 
they  violated  the  most  sacred  law  of  human  nature, 
and  refused  to  bear  arms  against  the  enemies  of  their 
country.  But  by  their  civil  and  religious  adminis- 
tration, by  the  piety  and  innocence  of  their  morals, 


XXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

they  promoted  and  propagated  those  republican  vir- 
tues, without  which  the  institutions  of  liberty  cannot 
subsist  among  men,  and  independence  becomes  un- 
worthy the  blood  that  is  shed  in  the  acquisition  of  it. 
In  Pennsylvania,  the  quakers  reared  the  most  du- 
rable monuments  of  their  fame,  and  advanced  to 
their  most  elevated  grade  the  interests  of  their  order. 
The  freedom,  liberality  and  benevolence  of  their 
policy  invited  among  them  a  numerous  population, 
as  well  from  the  adjacent  provinces  as  from  Europe; 
and  the  industry  of  the  German,  the  activity  and 
enterprise  of  the  Irishman,  joined  to  the  preexisting 
order  and  economy  of  this  province,  raised  it  to  a 
sudden  height  of  prosperity,  which  has  been  seldom 
equalled  in  the  history  of  nations.  The  settlements 
of  William  Fenn  were  preceded  by  a  purchase  of 
their  lands  and  solemn  treaty  with  the  natives.  The 
only  one,  it  may  be  observed,  that  was  not  sanction- 
ed by  the  formality  of  an  oath,  and  the  only  one. 
perhaps,  that  was  observed  with  a  sacred  and  invio- 
lable fidelity.  Of  this,  the  best  evidence  is  the  affec- 
tionate intercourse  which  subsisted,  for  half  a  cen- 
tury, between  the  parties,  so  eagerly  desired  by  the 
Indians,  that  many  of  the  tribes  of  these  barbarians 
not  only  courted  the  alliance  and  cherished  the 
friendship  of  the  colonists,  but  solicited,  as  a  privilege. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

to  be  subject  to  the  beneficent  influence  of  their  au- 
thority. 

Whoever  is  armed  with  integrity  and  innocence 
of  life,  needs  not  the  sword  to  protect  him  against 
the  malevolence  of  mankind.  This  honest  sentiment 
of  poetical  fancy  is  not  quite  unworthy  the  sober 
wisdom  of  the  sage.  Pennsylvania,  at  least,  fur- 
nishes the  example  that  these  virtues,  accompanied 
by  piety  and  justice,  may  soften  the  ferocity  of  the 
savage,  however  feeble  a  barrier  they  oppose  to  the 
fury  of  fanaticism  or  the  rage  of  ambition. 

DELAWARE. 

Delaware  was  first  settled  in  1627,  by  a  colony  of 
Swedes  and  Finns  under  commission  of  the  king  of 
Sweden.  It  was  subdued  by  the  Dutch  of  New  York 
in  1655,  and  remained  under  the  dominion  of  that 
province  till  1682.  It  was  at  this  period  united  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  became  a  distinct  government  in 
1701. 

In  their  civil  administration  the  inhabitants  of  this 
colony  manifested  a  warm  devotion  for  liberty;  and 
in  war,  a  bravery  and  enterprize  which  have  given 
them,  notwithstanding  the  minuteness  of  their  terri- 
tory, a  conspicuous  rank  in  the  annals  of  the  revo- 
lution.    They  descended  from  a  nation  prolific  in 

VOL.  I.  d 


XXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

heroes.  The  countrymen  of  Gustavus  Vasa  were  no 
strangers  to  the  value  of  political  freedom. 


MARYLAND. 

This  province  was  founded  by  the  proprietor  lord 
Baltimore  in  1634.  The  first  expedition  consisted 
of  about  two  hundred  Roman  Catholics  of  distin- 
guished fortune  and  rank,  who  with  their  adherents 
sought  in  America  a  retreat  from  religious  persecu- 
tion and  from  the  arbitrary  and  grievous  injuries 
they  sustained  by  the  illiberal  policy  of  the  British 
government.  Here,  with  a  magnanimity  unusual  in 
such  circumstances,  they  extended  to  all  sects,  that 
associated  with  them,  the  entire  enjoyment  of  reli- 
gious freedom.  And  so  far  had  they  been  taught  by 
their  own  sufferings,  to  appreciate  and  revere  this 
sacred  privilege,  that  even  a  contumelious  expression 
against  other  denominations  was  expressly  forbidden 
by  their  laws.  The  puritan  expelled  from  Virginia, 
the  quaker  from  Massachusetts,  the  Dutch  from  the 
Delaware,  after  the  conquest  of  their  possessions  by 
the  English:  all  found  among  them  a  welcome  asy- 
lum; and  their  province,  cherished  by  this  liberal 
policy,  soon  grew  into  importance  by  the  industry 
and  enterprise  of  a  virtuous  population. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV11 

Cromwell,  with  his  bigoted  parliament,  at  length 
took  offence  at  this  catholic  system  of  moderation. 
It  was  regarded  as  a  masked  battery  erected  in  the 
new  world  against  the  dominion  of  the  saints.  He 
was,  besides,  unwilling  that  even  in  the  desert  the 
enemies  of  the  Lord  should  find  security  from  his 
holy  indignation.  These  catholics  had  likewise  been 
mutinous  and  disdainful,  on  some  occasions,  of  the 
authority  of  the  arbitrary  and  rapacious  governors 
who  had  been  placed  over  them.  Commissioners 
were  therefore  deputed  by  Cromwell  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  province,  and  the  catholics,  by  an  act  of 
assembly,  were  outlawed,  and  prosecutions  com- 
menced against  those  who  were  guilty  of  popery  and 
prelacy,  as  well  as  against  quakers,  and  "  all  such 
as  under  the  profession  of  Christ,  practised  licenti- 
ousness/' 

By  this  mischievous  policy  of  Cromwell  the  colo- 
ny of  Maryland  was  kept,  during  several  years,  in  a 
state  of  revolutionary  turbulence,  until  order  was  re- 
established in  1658,  by  the  auspicious  death  of  that 
tyrant. 

VIRGINIA. 

Frequent  enterprises  were  undertaken  for  the  co- 
lonization of  Virginia,  unsuccessfully,  by  the  adven- 
turous and  unfortunate  sir  Walter  Raleigh.     The 


XXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

territory  of  this  province  was  afterwards  granted  by 
patent  to  the  London  company,  and  the  first  perma- 
nent settlement  commenced  at  James  Town  in 
1601.  This  little  community  which,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  three  years,  contained  five  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, failing  in  provisions  and  attacked  at  the  same 
time  by  the  Indians,  was,  in  the  space  of  six  months, 
reduced  almost  to  extinction.  Sixty  persons  only 
escaped  from  massacre  and  starvation,  who  were 
preserved  by  the  providential  arrival  from  England, 
of  a  supply  of  men  and  provisions. 

By  this  accession  of  numbers  the  exhausted  vigor 
of  the  colony  was  repaired,  its  settlements  extended, 
and  in  1620,  it  had  acquired  a  population  of  twelve 
hundred  souls.  There  prevailed,  however,  in  the 
province,  a  scarcity  of  women ;  and  many  of  the  in- 
habitants, destitute  of  wives,  threatened  a  return  to 
their  native  country;  but,  for  this  evil,  a  remedy  less 
violent  than  that  of  the  Romans  on  a  similar  occa- 
sion, was  provided.  One  hundred  and  fifty  females 
of  the  best  quality,  young,  virtuous  and  handsome, 
were  exported  by  the  London  merchants  in  exchange 
for  tobacco.  The  discontented  became,  therefore, 
reconciled  to  their  solitude,  and  the  affairs  of  the 
colony  wore  again  the  aspect  of  peace  and  prosperity, 
when  a  second  attempt  of  the  savages  nearly  involv- 
ed them  in  the  fate  of  their  predecessors.     Amidst 


INTRODUCTION.  XXIX 

their  social  intercourse  and  occupations,  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty,  unconscious  of  danger,  unresisting 
and  defenceless,  fell,  in  the  same  hour,  by  the  hand 
of  the  assassins.  A  furious  war  ensued,  to  which 
was  superadded  the  miseries  of  famine;  when  arri- 
vals from  the  mother  country  again  arrested  the  pro- 
gress of  their  calamities. 

Soon  after  this  period  the  company  of  the  propri- 
etors was  dissolved;  and,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I, 
the  administration  of  the  colonies  devolved  upon  the 
crown.  The  most  rigorous  laws  were  enacted  to 
establish  and  preserve  uniformity  of  religion,  and 
maintain  the  ascendancy  of  the  episcopal  church. 
Some  rebellious  proceedings  in  1676  interrupted, 
for  a  while,  the  public  tranquillity;  but  no  events 
changed  the  direction  of  their  institutions,  or  con- 
trolled the  progress  of  their  prosperity. 

The  province  of  Virginia  is  the  eldest  sister  of  the 
colonial  family.  But  titles  more  sacred  than  that  of 
primogeniture  recommend  her  to  respect  and  vene- 
ration. Unsustained  by  the  heat  of  religious  enthu- 
siasm, or  political  excitement,  she  triumphed,  during 
her  infancy  and  orphanage,  over  the  rudest  malevo- 
lence of  fortune,  and  in  the  successive  scenes  of  her 
history,  maintained,  by  her  merits,  a  rank  of  preemi- 
nence in  the  new  world.  She  reared,  for  the  defence 
of  her  liberty,  a  race  of  citizens  ingenious  in  peace 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

and  intrepid  in  war;  she  is  especially  illustrious  for 
the  birth  of  a  hero,  who  enriched  his  country  by  his 
glory,  and  adorned  human  nature  by  his  virtues;  and 
whose  memory,  consecrated  by  the  veneration  of  the 
whole  world,  descends  to  the  latest  ages  of  posterity. 
Into  this  state  was  first  introduced  that  unhappy 
condition  of  men  who  bear  the  figure  without  the 
privileges  of  human  beings,  the  African  slaves.  The 
first  cargo  of  these  was  introduced  in  the  year  1620. 
in  imitation  of  the  system  already  established  in  the 
colonies  of  the  West  Indies.  They  were  gradually 
diffused  throughout  the  provinces  of  the  south;  and 
have  long  since  inflicted,  by  the  fears  they  inspire, 
by  the  vices  they  propagate,  and  by  the  crimes  they 
commit,  an  ample  vengeance  upon  the  promoters  ol 
their  servitude.  In  the  governments  of  Europe,  all 
of  which  have  participated  in  the  guilt  of  this  im- 
pious outrage  against  humanity,  the  evil  is  confined 
to  the  limbs  or  extremities;  in  America  it  preys  upon 
the  heart,  and  convulses  the  vital  functions  of  the 
nation.  The  disease,  too,  is  immedicable.  In  other 
countries,  the  freed-man  is  lost  amidst  the  mass  of 
the  community.  His  genealogy  is  forgotten,  and  he 
assumes,  in  the  revolution  of  years,  the  station  to 
which  his  figure  and  faculties  intitle  him.  But  na- 
ture has  set  a  mark  upon  the  American  slave.  Al- 
though his  shackles  be  dissolved  by  the  inconsiderate 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXI 

zeal  of"  the  philanthropist,  he  remains  nevertheless 
bound  by  the  prejudice  of  his  complexion  to  the  of- 
fices of  slavery;  and  cut  off  from  the  incentives  of 
honourable  ambition,  practices  vice,  or  meditates, 
perhaps,  with  the  approbation  of  heaven,  rebellion 
against  the  authors  of  his  depravation. 

THE  CAROLINAS  AND  GEORGIA. 

South  Carolina  was  granted  to  the  earl  of  Cla- 
rendon, the  duke  of  Albemarle,  lord  Berkeley  and 
others,  and  erected  into  a  province  in  1663.  Mag- 
nificent schemes  were  devised  by  these  noblemen  for 
its  improvement,  policy  and  administration.  It  was 
intended  for  the  cultivation  of  the  vine,  the  olive  and 
other  productions  of  the  south,  and  was  favoured  by 
the  special  munificence  of  Charles  the  second.  Gra- 
tuitous donations  of  land,  exemption  from  taxes,  and 
other  flattering  concessions  and  immunities  were 
offered  to  encourage  emigration,  and  for  its  govern- 
ment, a  constitution  was  expressly  framed  by  the 
celebrated  Locke.  But  the  philosopher,  whose  su- 
perior faculties  had  penetrated  and  unravelled  the 
intricate  mazes  of  the  human  mind,  appears  to  have 
possessed  less  sagacity  in  the  business  of  legislation, 
or  to  have  been  negligent,  at  least,  of  the  maxims 
and  practical  wisdom  of  Solon,  who  founded  his 


XXX11  INTRODUCTION. 

laws  and  institutions  upon  the  preexisting  habits 
and  genius  of  the  people,  and  not  upon  theoretical 
and  abstract  notions  of  mankind. 

His  new  modelled  system  of  politics  was  a  fruit- 
ful source  of  dissention,  during  twenty-five  years, 
until  the  final  abolition  of  it,  in  1693.  In  the 
midst  of  the  various  expedients  devised  for  the  pre- 
eminence of  this  favourite  colony,  harassed  by  the 
Indians,  infested  by  pirates,  invaded  by  the  Span- 
iards, and  agitated  by  domestic  controversies,  it  lan- 
guished in  its  agriculture,  commerce  and  population; 
and  it  is  only  from  the  dissolution  of  the  proprietary 
administration,  in  1721,  that  we  can  date  the  com- 
mencement of  its  prosperity. 

In  1729  this  province  was  divided  into  the  two 
distinct  governments  of  North  and  South  Carolina. 
In  1732,  Georgia  was  also  detached  from  its  terri- 
tory; which  latter  state,  from  the  continual  depreda- 
tions of  the  Spaniards  and  Indians,  and  from  an 
impotent  system  of  government,  remained  during  its 
colonial  subjection  in  a  languid  and  unprosperous 
condition.  The  inhabitants  of  these  provinces  were 
hardened  under  the  rude  discipline  of  adversity,  for 
the  struggles  and  vicissitudes  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  and  were  equally  distinguished  in  the  various 
scenes  of  it,  for  their  gallantry  of  enterprise,  their 
prompt  and  determined  courage.     Equality  of  poli- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXX11I 

tical  rights  and  entire  liberty  of  conscience,  were 
established  by  their  fundamental  laws,  and  regarded 
with  a  sacred  devotion.  Frequent  efforts  were  made 
by  their  governors  to  establish  among  them  the  pre- 
dominance of  the  episcopal  church,  which  proved 
unavailing,  and  served  only  to  confirm  the  prevalence 
of  religious  toleration. 

This  country  derived  its  original  population  from 
France,  during  the  sanguinary  persecutions  of 
Charles  IX;  from  England,  Scotland,  from  the  island 
of  Barbadoes,  and  from  the  neighbouring  provinces. 
It  became,  afterwards,  the  fortunate  asylum  of  the 
oppressed  and  exiled  palatines  of  Germany,  and  of 
the  ingenious  and  industrious  Hugonots;  a  part  of 
whom  were  driven  to  America  by  the  revocation  of 
the  edict  of  Nantz. 

It  is  not  unusual  in  the  great  government  of  the 
world,  that  to  one  portion  of  mankind  their  supreme 
blessings  should  proceed  from  the  calamities  or  ini- 
quities of  another;  and  to  such  dispensations  of 
providence,  it  was  the  fate  of  the  British  colonies  in 
America,  to  owe  their  existence,  their  prosperity, 
and  their  independence.  Those  rich  plains,  which 
now  load  with  their  liberal  treasures  the  granaries 
of  the  new  world,  unfavoured  by  the  bigotry  or  the 
tyranny  of  Europe,  had  been  yet  buried  under  their 
native  woods;  and  the  surface  of  that  territory  which 

VOL.  I.  E 


XXXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

is,  to  day,  covered  by  the  monuments  of  the  arts, 
and  the  industry  of  civilised  man,  which  compre- 
hends within  its  limits  eight  millions  of  freemen,  had 
yet  resounded  with  the  yell  of  the  savage,  or  the 
howlings  of  the  ravenous  wolf. 

Such  are  the  principal  events  that  attended  the 
first  settlement  of  the  thirteen  colonies  which  ap- 
peared upon  the  scene  of  the  revolutionary  war,  and 
the  outlines  by  which  they  may  be  characterized  and 
distinguished.  I  proceed  now  to  consider  such  other 
objects  in  their  history  as  are  most  conspicuous,  or 
tend  most  immediately  to  illustrate  the  genius  and 
disposition  of  the  inhabitants  in  their  approach  to- 
wards the  period  of  their  independence. 

I.  As  a  consequence  of  the  long  and  rigorous  per- 
secutions they  had  sustained,  the  colonies  were  at- 
tached to  their  religious  principles  with  an  excessive 
veneration,  and  discredited,  in  some  instances,  by 
their  own  bigotry,  whatever  pretensions  they  might 
otherwise  have  formed,  to  censure  the  illiberal  spirit 
that  persecuted  them.  In  their  original  history  are 
some  occurrences  proceeding  from  this  source, 
which,  in  the  present  age,  and  prevalence  of  more 
generous  sentiments,  are  presented  to  our  observa- 
tion in  an  odious  and  disgusting  aspect;  and  have 
sometimes  furnished,  not  to  an  honest  indignation  or 
conscious  innocence,  but  to  the  malignity  of  foreign 
writers,  a  fruitful  theme  of  sarcasm  and  vituperation. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV 

Religion  is  a  subject  which,  more  than  all  others, 
has  confounded  the  intellectual  pride  and  arrogance 
of  man;  it  seems  designed  by  Providence  to  exhibit, 
in  its  highest  aggravation,  the  imbecility  of  human 
reason,  or  contrast  the  divine  intelligence  with  the 
narrowness  of  human  comprehension.  Whatever 
ceremonies  among  men  have  rendered  them  most 
ridiculous  and  absurd,  whatever  crimes  most  infa- 
mous in  the  eyes  of  their  own  species,  and  impious 
in  the  sight  of  heaven,  are  to  be  traced  to  the  iniquity 
or  perversion  of  their  religious  institutions.  Nor  is 
it  granted  to  any  order  or  denomination,  from  the 
throne  to  the  cottage,  from  the  philosopher  to  the 
clown;  to  any  nation,  from  the  rudest  barbarism  to 
the  most  exquisite  refinement,  to  claim  entire  ex- 
emption from  this  species  of  extravagance  and  folly. 

The  savage,  to  propitiate  the  great  spirit  of  alt 
good,  imbrues  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  human 
victim;  and,  in  his  devotions,  perpetrates  an  impious 
outrage  against  nature.  The  priest  of  Egypt,  who 
had  measured  the  heavens  by  his  science,  lodged 
the  divine  essence  in  the  bosom  of  his  cat  or  dog; 
and,  to  the  crocodile  or  the  ibex,  poured  out  the 
fervor  of  his  adorations.  Amidst  the  monuments  of 
the  refined  and  magnificent  Athens,  the  blood  of 
hecatombs  flowed  to  the  rabble  gods  of  an  ignorant 


XXXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

mythology;  and  the  Roman,  rich  with  the  spoils,  and 
with  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  revealed  the  destinies 
from  the  bowels  of  an  ox,  or  in  the  appetite  of  a 
chicken  consulted  the  designs  of  Omnipotence. 

But  these  follies  of  antiquity,  however  repugnant 
to  reason,  have  disappeared  in  the  more  transcend- 
ant  iniquities  of  the  modern  world.    For  the  cave  of 
Trophonius,  we  have  now  the  dungeons  of  the  inqui- 
sition; for  the  infuriated  Sybil,  the  ludicrous  and 
fantastic  figure  of  the  monk,  buried  amidst  the  pu- 
trefied relics  of  departed  saints,  emaciated  by  priva- 
tions, and  mutilated  by  voluntary  flagellation.     For 
the  votive  heifer,  under  the  axe  of  the  high  priest, 
the  martyr  now  expires  by  the  ruffian  violence  of  his 
holy  executioner.    But  the  evil  is  no  longer  confined 
to  individual  infatuation.     The  contagious  fury  of 
fanaticism  has  disturbed  the  harmony  of  empires, 
and  the  chaste  doctrines  of  Christianity,  founded 
upon  humility,  charity,  and  peace,  have  been  marked 
in  their  progress  by  ravage,  assassination  and  havoc. 
The  colonies  of  New  England  were  produced  and 
elevated  in  the  heat  of  religious  frenzy;  when  tole- 
ration was  accounted  a  criminal  negligence  of  the 
interests  of  heaven.     They  participated  in  the  fol- 
lies of  their  cotemporaries,  and  paid  no  humble  tri- 
bute  to  a   common  frailty  of  mankind.     By  the 
scourge  of  the  fanatic,  they  had  been  driven  from 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV11 

their  homes;  and,  in  the  land  of  their  exile,  exercised 
the  same  rude  system  of  oppression  against  those 
who  were  their  relations  by  blood,  and  partners  in 
misfortune.  They  sought,  in  the  bleak  and  barren 
regions  of  a  wilderness,  the  undisturbed  enjoyment 
of  their  religious  liberty,  and  not  only  dared  to  ap- 
propriate those  privileges  which  are  the  birthright 
of  mankind,  but  to  arrogate  those  powers  of  juris- 
diction and  of  punishment  which  belong  only  to  the 
wisdom  and  authority  of  heaven. 

An  attempt  to  justify  illiberality  so  gross,  and 
transgressions  so  iniquitous,  is  to  insult  human  rea- 
son, and  to  become,  in  some  measure,  an  accomplice 
in  the  guilt;  we  may,  however,  claim  for  our  ances- 
tors, amidst  the  universal  prevalence  of  the  same 
evil  spirit,  an  immunity  from  foreign  reproach. 
Their  comparative  sobriety,  also,  amidst  the  rage  of 
a  general  intemperance,  might  be  adduced,  with 
plausibility,  in  extenuation  of  their  faults.  They  are 
at  least  entitled,  from  all  the  circumstances  of  their 
colonization,  to  the  fullest  application  of  those  apo- 
logies, which,  however  defective  and  illogical,  have 
received  no  ordinary  force  in  the  mitigation  of  simi- 
lar offences.  In  the  ecclesiastical  records  of  other 
nations,  we  perceive,  as  no  unusual  occurrence,  men 
who  have  founded  and  sustained  the  exclusive  do- 
mination of  their  sects  by  persecutions  the  most 


XXXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

outrageous,  whose  memory  is  now  revered  by  pos- 
terity, and  whose  names  are  enrolled  and  consecrat- 
ed with  celestial  honours,  in  the  calendar  of  the 
saints.  So  much  has  been  conceded,  by  almost 
universal  consent,  to  the  prevailing  infatuation  of  the 
age. 

Another  species  of  superstition,  no  less  incompre- 
hensible in  its  nature,  the  usual  associate  and  a 
worthy  appendage  of  religious  bigotry,  is  sorcery  or 
witchcraft;  or  a  belief  that  mortals  in  converse  with 
malignant  spirits,  may  inflict  diseases  and  other  ca- 
lamities upon  their  fellow  creatures,  in  defiance  of 
the  power  of  Omnipotence.  The  inhabitants  of 
New  England,  under  the  influence  of  this  delusion, 
in  1692,  perpetrated  the  most  intemperate  and  tra- 
gical outrage.  By  a  sacrilegious  profanation  of  jus- 
tice, and  with  the  sanction  or  formalities  of  the  law, 
they  raised  the  hand  of  violence  upon  the  lives  of 
their  fellow  creatures.  From  the  fury  of  this  im- 
placable frenzy,  neither  the  tenderness  of  infancy 
nor  the  delicacy  of  sex  afforded  a  protection,  and 
men  venerable  for  their  age,  were  exposed  to  ex- 
crutiating  torments,  and  suffered,  by  the  imputation 
of  an  imaginary  crime,  a  death  which  had  been  re- 
served for  atrocious  and  guilty  offenders.  This  oc- 
currence will  remain,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
national  partiality  to  extenuate  or  conceal  it,  a  blot 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXIX 

upon  the  history  of  our  country;  and,  in  the  new 
world,  at  least,  a  signal  monument  of  human  imbe- 
cility and  folly. 

By  a  partial  consideration  of  the  disgusting  details 
which  attend  these  events,  we  should  be  apt,  in  the 
present  moral  state  of  society,  to  consider  them  as 
historical  exaggerations,  or  as  the  transactions  of  a 
race  of  barbarians  notorious  for  their  ignorance  and 
ferocity.  The  example  of  other  nations,  with  greater 
pretensions  to  intelligence  and  refinement,  does  not, 
however,  permit  us  to  doubt  their  reality,  or  to  as- 
cribe their  existence  to  any  supernatural  degradation 
of  the  human  mind.  In  the  frequented  communities 
of  France,  where  the  grossness  of  human  nature 
was  already  refined  by  social  intercourse;  and  where 
the  inhabitants  were  moulded  to  the  feelings  of  hu- 
manity by  the  wisdom  and  sentiment  of  philosophers 
and  poets;  not  only  did  the  people  from  the  humble 
ranks  of  life,  perish  in  many  hundreds  each  year,  by 
the  decrees  of  their  provincial  courts,  but,  by  the 
august  parliament  of  Paris,  victims  of  this  pitiless 
superstition,  from  the  highest  order  of  nobility,  and 
from  the  presence  of  their  sovereign,  were  dragged 
to  an  ignominious  and  excruciating  death.  In  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  after  the  age 
of  Locke,  Newton,  D'Alembert,  and  Euler,  the 
bodies  of  the  deceased  were  conjured,  by  this  mad- 


xl 


INTRODUCTION. 


ness  of  the  imagination,  from  their  graves;  and  fed, 
for  many  years,  upon  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the 
Germans.  One  third  of  civilized  Europe  was  thrown 
into  consternation;  and  the  archives  of  the  empire 
yet  exhibit,  in  the  disgraceful  records  of  these  times, 
the  prosecutions  that  were  instituted,  and  the  pun- 
ishments that  were  inflicted  to  arrest  this  mischiev- 
ous insurrection  of  the  dead. 

The  natives  of  Great  Britain,  from  their  gloomy 
and  melancholy  temperament,  are,  perhaps,  more 
than  others,  prone  to  this  species  of  superstition. 
The  solemn  doctrine  of  witchcraft  has  been  handed 
down  by  our  English  ancestors,  not  only  in  the  le- 
gendary tales  and  the  chronicles  of  an  ignorant  mul- 
titude, but  sanctioned  by  the  grave  authority  of 
judges  and  ecclesiastics  distinguished  for  their  learn- 
ing; and  constitutes  a  portion  of  the  divinity  and  ju- 
risprudence of  the  nation.  In  their  theatrical  exhi- 
bitions, ghosts,  goblins,  and  witches,  intermixed  with 
monarchs  and  with  heroes,  are  dressed  in  all  the 
embellishments  of  genius;  and  their  literature  is  filled 
with  conceits,  than  which  the  magic  of  Medea,  or 
the  incantations  of  Canidia,  are  less  extravagant  and 
fantastic. 

Trials  for  the  punishment  of  sorcery  were  con- 
tinued in  Great  Britain  until  the  reign  of  George  the 
second;  and,  during  the  government  of  Cromwell, 


INTRODUCTION.  xli 

"  so  prevalent  was  the  opinion  of  witchcraft,  that 
great  numbers  accused  of  that  crime  were  burnt  by 
the  sentence  of  the  magistrates,  in  all  parts  of  Scot- 
land. In  a  village  near  Berwick,  which  contained 
only  fourteen  houses,  fourteen  persons  were  punish- 
ed by  fire;  and  it  became  a  science  much  studied 
and  cultivated  to  distinguish  a  true  witch  by  proper 
trials  and  symptoms/'* 

A  comparative  view  of  this  subject  I  have  thought 
requisite  to  ascertain  the  relative  degree  of  censure 
that  may  be  justly  attached  to  the  most  conspicuous 
follies  of  our  ancestors;  and  to  estimate  the  rank  they 
are  entitled  to  maintain  in  the  general  scale  of  hu- 
manity. The  history  of  mankind  furnishes,  by  in- 
numerable examples,  the  evidence  that  superstition 
is  compatible  with  virtue  as  well  as  with  vice,  that 
it  has  been  associated  with  glorious  actions  and 
atrocious  crimes;  and,  although  the  inseparable  com- 
panion of  ignorance,  it  is  sometimes  the  concomitant 
of  distinguished  erudition.  Instances  are  not  rare 
of  those  who,  otherwise  intelligent,  have  disgraced 
their  reason  by  spiritual  and  metaphysical  conceits 
no  less  senseless  than  the  unnatural  conceptions  of 
the  madman.  Plato  studied  astrology  and  magic  in 
Egypt.  A  learned  chief  justice  admitted,  in  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  reality  of  witch- 

*  Hume. 
VOL-*  I.  F 


Xlii  INTRODUCTION. 

craft,  in  the  polished  empire  of  Great  Britain.*  Let 
us  then  cease  to  admire  that,  in  the  glooms  of  a  so- 
litude, the  natural  abode  of  superstition,  our  ances- 
tors sometimes  wandered  into  the  wild  regions  of 
fancy.  At  the  same  time,  we  must  feel  for  the  con- 
dition of  human  reason,  and  for  the  dignity  of  the 
human  character,  the  bitterest  anguish  of  humiliation. 

But  these  narrow  prejudices  of  sectarian  zeal  and 
superstition  which  extinguish  the  generous  feelings 
of  the  heart,  contract  and  fetter  the  faculties  of  the 
understanding,  however  extravagant  they  may  have 
originally  been  in  America,  were,  by  the  gradual 
intercourse  and  admixture  of  various  denominations, 
dissolved  and  forgotten;  and  the  sacred  rights  of 
conscience  at  the  period  of  the  revolution,  not  only 
recognised  by  the  colonists  universally,  but  confirm- 
ed to  posterity  by  the  laws  and  constitution  of  their 
political  union. 

To  the  age  of  bigotry  and  superstition,  a  mutual 
emulation  succeeded,  which  promoted  the  integrity  of 
religion  and  the  modest  sanctity  of  the  professors  and 
teachers  of  it;  and  a  more  excellent  and  upright  cler- 
gy than  those  who  existed  at  this  epoch  in  America, 
are  perhaps  not  to  be  discovered  in  the  annals  of  the 
church.  No  crafty  or  designing  imposter,  to  feed  the 
appetites  and  rapacity  of  his  order,  levied  his  contri- 

*  Blackstone's  Commentaries. 


INTRODUCTION.  xliii 

butions  upon  the  ignorance  and  credulity  of  the  mul- 
titude; no  ecclesiastic,  proud  of  his  representation  of 
St.  Peter,  inculcated,  in  the  gorgeous  decorations  of 
pride,  the  humble  and  austere  sanctity  of  the  gospel. 
The  various  sects  of  this  country,  were,  in  their  de- 
portment, unostentatious,  frugal,  economical,  and  re- 
publican. They  preached  the  virtues  of  Christianity, 
and  practised  them.  The  mitre  of  the  ecclesiastic 
is  rarely  the  emblem  of  political  freedom.  But,  from 
the  casual  circumstances  of  their  migration,  the 
provincial  clergy  were  the  apostles  of  liberty  as  well 
as  of  religion,  and  by  an  unusual  association,  the  pray- 
ers of  the  patriot  and  of  the  saint  ascended  together 
to  the  throne  of  Omnipotence. 

II.  Amidst  the  enterprizes  achieved  by  the  colo- 
nists, but  little  leisure  was  afforded  them  for  the 
cultivation  of  literature  and  science.  In  the  short 
period  of  a  century  and  a  half,  they  had  founded  an 
empire  and  reared  it  to  an  independent  rank  and 
reputation  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  the 
progress  of  their  operations,  they  were  interrupted 
by  the  incessant  ravages  of  the  Indians,  they  were 
embroiled  in  perpetual  controversies  with  their  go- 
vernors, and  sustained,  at  the  same  time,  an  unin- 
termitting  warfare  of  fifty  years  with  the  contiguous 
provinces  of  the  French.  In  surveying  the  multi- 
plicity and  magnitude  of  these  labours   with  the 


Xliv  INTRODUCTION. 

means  by  which  they  were  surmounted,  we  shall 
indeed  have  abundant  cause  for  admiration,  that 
letters,  among  two  and  a  half  millions  of  inhabitants, 
spread  over  so  vast  a  surface  of  territory,  had  not 
been  altogether  consigned  to  obscurity  and  neglect. 

The  concerns  of  a  colony,  under  the  most  auspi- 
cious patronage,  occupy  too  small  a  space  in  the  eye 
of  mankind  to  rouse  the  ambition  of  the  statesman, 
to  animate  the  emulation  and  call  forth  the  abilities 
of  the  scholar.  But  the  policy  of  the  British  govern- 
ment in  the  literary  discipline,  as  in  other  objects  of 
the  administration  of  her  provinces,  was  narrow  and 
bigoted.  Offices  of  distinction  were  almost  exclu- 
sively conferred  upon  the  native  subjects  of  her  own 
island,  and  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  through  the 
medium  of  the  press,  or  otherwise,  was  studiously 
discouraged.  To  propagate  a  taste  for  learning, 
which  tends  to  inspire  a  liberality  of  sentiment,  a 
sense  of  personal  dignity  and  independence,  among 
a  people  already  too  acute  and  inquisitive  in  the  in- 
vestigation of  their  rights,  would  have  been  repug- 
nant to  all  the  prudential  maxims  of  arbitrary  power. 

The  extreme  veneration  of  the  early  colonists  for 
their  religion  and  deference  for  their  clergy,  most  of 
whom  had  been  instructed  in  the  best  seminaries  of 
England,  contributed,  however,  to  establish,  from  the 
beginning,  a  systematic  plan  of  instruction.     In  the 


INTRODUCTION.  xlv 

erection  of  a  colony,  the  building  of  a  school,  next 
to  a  church,  was  an  object  of  sacred  obligation;  to 
instruct  their  children  in  the  doctrines  of  their  reli- 
gion, and  to  guard,  as  it  was  said,  against  an  illite- 
rate clergy,  ' c  when  the  learned  ministers  they  then 
enjoyed  should  sleep  in  the  dust."  In  this  spirit  was 
founded,  in  Massachusetts,  the  present  university  of 
Cambridge,  which  contained,  at  the  revolution,  two 
hundred  students,  and  which,  for  near  two  centuries, 
has  not  only  maintained  a  predominant  superiority 
in  America,  but  is  entitled,  by  the  erudition  of  its 
professors,  and  wisdom  of  its  discipline,  to  a  distin- 
guished rank  among  similar  institutions  of  foreign 
countries. 

Although  this  ecclesiastical  influence  gave, 
throughout  the  provinces,  a  general  diffusion  to  ele- 
mentary learning,  it  is  obvious  that  the  abstruse  and 
metaphysical  inquiries,  the  subtilties  and  abstract 
doctrine  of  theology  which  engrossed  the  specula- 
tions of  the  clergy  of  those  days,  incomprehensible 
at  all  ages,  and  particularly  inaccessible  to  the  un- 
derstanding of  youth;  that  the  rigid  and  austere  for- 
mality with  which  their  precepts  were  inculcated, 
had  little  tendency  to  kindle  the  fire  of  genius  or 
imagination,  and  were  better  fitted  to  contract  and 
confuse  the  faculties  of  the  mind  than  to  improve  or 
adorn  them. 


lxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

The  intercourse,  however,  which  necessarily  sub- 
sisted with  the  mother  country,  the  sympathy  felt  by 
the  colonies  in  the  violent  contests  which  agitated  that 
kingdom,  and  the  interest  excited  in  their  political  wri- 
tings which  possessed,  in  many  instances,  great  lite- 
rary merit,  cherished  a  more  liberal  taste  for  learn- 
ing, and  diminished,  in  some  degree,  the  influence  of 
those  evils  which  conspired  to  check  and  extinguish 
it.  In  the  negociations  and  discussions  of  the  revolu- 
tion, the  American  statesmen  were  by  no  means 
inferior  in  ingenuity  and  soundness  of  reasoning, 
or  accuracy  of  composition  to  the  most  distinguish- 
ed of  their  antagonists,  who  had  reached,  at  this  pe- 
riod, the  summit  of  their  literary  fame.  In  the  speech- 
es and  debates  of  their  continental  and  colonial 
assemblies,  there  is  an  energy  and  dignity  of  lan- 
guage appropriate  to  the  majesty  of  the  occasion 
which  produced  it,  an  eloquence  animated  by  that 
unaffected  warmth  of  expression,  which  the  love  of 
virtue  and  liberty  must  necessarily  inspire.  But  the 
palm  of  oratory  is  not  to  be  borne  away  by  native 
genius  even  with  the  aid  of  moderate  cultivation.  An 
unintermitting  study  and  discipline,  with  the  polish  of 
the  liberal  arts,  is  essential  to  the  perfection  of  talent 
which  is  perhaps  the  most  inaccessible  of  all  human 
acquisitions. 


INTRODUCTION.  Xlvil 

The  difficulty  of  determining  with  precision  the 
boundaries  of  their  lands,  in  a  new  country,  excited 
an  attention  to  the  studies  of  geometry  and  specula- 
tive science.  The  legal  disputes  they  were  involved  in 
for  the  same  reason,  and  the  providential  vigilance  with 
which  they  guarded  their  political  liberties,  gave  them 
just  ideas  of  the  nature  of  government  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  justice.  In  theology,  politics  and  law, 
their  writings  possess  great  merit;  and,  on  other  sub- 
jects, there  are  some  authors  not  defective  in  abilities; 
but,  there  being  no  exclusive  devotion  to  letters  among 
them,  few  possess  sufficient  excellence  either  of  com- 
position or  matter  to  engage  the  attention  of  posterity. 
Franklin  is,  however,  an  honourable  and  conspi- 
cuous exception.  This  great  man,  by  the  consent 
of  all  civilized  nations,  has  attained  a  rank  in  the 
literary  as  well  as  in  the  political  world.  Those  who 
are  able  and  willing  to  estimate  rightly  the  extent  and 
utility  of  his  scientific  researches,  the  elegance  and 
classical  purity  of  his  compositions,  the  brilliant  im- 
agination, sentiment,  and  beneficial  influence  of  his 
philosophical  writings  upon  mankind,  do  not  assign 
him  an  humble  or  subordinate  station  among  the 
"Gods  of  the  earth." 

Those  arts  which  contribute  to  elegance  and  re- 
finement, and  which  are  co-ordinate  with  a  crowded 
population,  with  luxury,  and  the  exorbitant  wealth 


Xlviii  INTRODUCTION- 

of  individuals,  cannot  be  required  from  the  progress 
of  society  at  this  period  in  America.  We  must  not 
seek  amidst  the  blossoms  of  spring  for  the  fruits  and 
maturity  of  autumn.  There  is  no  Homer,  no  Milton, 
to  whose  immortality  we  may  pour  out  the  effusions 
of  our  national  pride,  or  the  homage  of  our  admira- 
tion. The  canvas  had  not  yet  breathed  under  the 
pencil  of  an  Apelles;  no  Phidias  snatched  from 
death  the  hero  who  died  for  his  country. 

Preeminence  in  literature  and  the  fine  arts  is  rarely 
coexistent  with  the  political  glory  and  prosperity  of  a 
nation.  It  is  not  amidst  the  victories  of  Marathon  or  of 
Salamis  we  are  to  seek  the  unrivalled  declamations  of 
Demosthenes.  At  the  table  of  CincinnatusorFabri- 
cius,  we  do  not  find  a  Virgil  or  Horace,  nor  a 
Mecaenas  at  the  supper  of  Curius.  Socrates,  from 
the  lips  of  Aspasia,  embellished  the  maxims  of  his 
wisdom;  and  the  immortal  eloquence  of  Cicero  was 
nourished  by  the  proscriptions  of  Scylla,  by  the  se- 
ditions of  Cataline,  the  debaucheries  of  Antony,  and 
the  rapacity  of  Verres. 

Our  ancestors  of  modern  Europe  have  traced 
the  circulation  of  the  blood,  examined  the  minutest 
fibres  of  the  human  frame  and  unravelled  the  intri- 
cate mazes  of  the  mind;  they  have  analyzed  the 
economy  of  the  globe,  from  the  imperceptible  fluid 
that  pervades,  and  the  volatile  air  that  surrounds  it 


INTRODUCTION.  xllX 

to  the  solid  structure  of  the  diamond  enclosed  within 
its  bowels.   They  have  removed,  with  still  greater 
ingenuity  or  audacity  of  genius,  the  clouds  which 
concealed  from  our  eyes,  the  mysteries  of  the  divini- 
ty, and  have  calculated  the  movements,  distance, 
magnitude  of  the  heavenly   bodies.   Particles  that 
were  hidden,  in  their  exiguity,  from  human  per- 
ception, and  worlds  that  were  lost  in  the  immensity 
of  space,  have  been  brought  within  the  focus  of  our 
vision.   There  is  no  maxim  of  moral   or  political 
wisdom;  no    reasoning    upon   the    prosperity    and 
downfall  of  empires,  that  has  not  been  reiterated 
with  all  the  vehemence  of  declamation  and  embel- 
lishments of  rhetoric.    There  is  no  sea  that  has  not 
been  crimsoned  by  the  blood  of  their  heroes,  no 
region  of  the  earth  that  has  not  been  covered  by  the 
monuments  of  their  valor;  and,  in  the  midst  of  all 
this  display  of  genius  and  magnificence,  the  devoted 
mass  of  these  civilized  communities  have  dragged  out 
their  cheerless  and  inglorious  existence  in  all  the 
wretchedness  of  sordid  want.  In  the  midst  of  philoso- 
phers and  divines,  they  have  been  infamous  for  their 
ignorance  or  their  vices;  have  trembled  under  the 
imprecations  of  the  fanatic,  or  groaned  under  the 
lash  of  the  despot. 

Among  our  ancestors  of  America,  the  immortal  ivy 
did  not  encircle  the  brow  of  the  orator,  historian 

VOL.  I.  G 


1  INTRODUCTION. 

or  poet;  nor  did  the  scholar  grow  pale,  in  nourishing 
the  eternal  fire  of  his  genius,  at  his  midnight  lamp. 
There  were  no  groves  of  the  Academy,  no  walks  of 
the  Tusculanum,  where  men  of"  purer  clay  and  finer 
mould"  might  sometimes  steal  from  the  degenerate 
crowd;  but  the  peasant  was  taught,  within  the  sanc- 
tuary of  the  cottage,  a  knowledge  of  his  rights,  his 
personal  dignity  and  independence,  and  acquired  in 
the  occupations  of  an  honest  industry,  the  vigor  and 
resolution  to  defend  them.  By  this  humble  discipline, 
they  nourished  into  maturity  and  maintained  in  their 
majesty  those  republican  virtues,  which,  in  the  rest 
of  the  world,  have  been  prostituted  and  disgraced. 

Literature  is  perhaps  the  only  object  upon  which 
the  eye  of  an  American  looks  back  to  the  land  of 
his  ancestors  with  humiliation  and  regret.  And  few 
subjects  are,  indeed,  more  worthy  of  exciting  the  sen- 
sibility of  national  pride  and  emulation.  Bravery,  fide- 
lity, generosity  and  most  other  virtues  of  the  heart,  are 
qualities  common  to  all  nations,  and  are  not  denied 
to  the  inferior  animals  of  creation.  But  to  excel  in 
those  faculties  of  mind — in  imagination  and  reason, 
— which  are  the  distinctive  prerogatives  of  man,  and 
which  indicate  his  nearest  affinity  with  the  divine  in- 
telligence that  formed  him,  is  indeed  the  most  gener- 
ous and  noble  object  of  human  ambition .   Praise  can- 


INTRODUCTION.  li 

not  therefore  be  lavished  with  profusion  upon  those 
individuals  whose  genius  or  patronage  has  extended 
the  interests  of  letters.  For,  these  are,  indeed,  the 
most  rational  and  dignified  pleasures  of  man.  They 
exalt  his  affections  above  the  grossness  of  sordid  and 
illiberal  appetites,  cheer  him  in  the  glooms  of  solitude, 
and  fortify  him  against  the  rigours  of  adversity. 
They  convert  the  ambition  of  the  opulent  and  idle 
into  fhe  channel  of  utility,  and,  whilst  they  enliven 
his  moments  of  leisure,  convey,  with  the  blandish- 
ments of  recreation,  the  sentiments  of  virtue  to  his 
heart.  If  required  to  determine  what  nation  amongst 
mankind  is  most  infamous,  degraded,  and  calamitous, 
we  must,  without  hesitation,  declare  it  to  be  that 
which,  abounding  in  luxury,  is  destitute  of  the  bene- 
fits of  a  liberal  instruction. 

The  American,  however,  who  is  less  dazzled  by 
the  literary  splendor,  than  cheered  by  the  felicity  of 
his  country,  will  perhaps  find  less  reason  to  bewail 
than  rejoice  at  the  absence  of  the  muses,  with  the 
evils  that  attend  them.  For  him  whose  sentiments 
are  at  variance  with  this  doctrine,  there  is  an  abun- 
dant consolation  in  the  prospect  of  the  future.  From 
the  industry  and  dexterity  with  which  the  Americans 
have  already  surmounted  the  obstacles,  and  fulfilled 
the  duties  assigned  them  by  Providence,  it  may  be 
safely  infered  that  in  the  dispensations  of  her  ethe- 


Hi  INTRODUCTION. 

real  spirit,  nature  has  used  no  special  munificence 
towards  the  inhabitants  of  the  old  world.  The  de- 
scendants of  that  people  who  transformed,  in  less 
than  two  centuries,  the  vast  desert  to  a  region  of 
fertility  and  abundance,  and  laid,  with  so  much  glory, 
the  foundations  of  their  independence,  are  not  desti- 
ned, to  hold,  in  arms,  in  arts  or  in  literature,  a  rank 
of  inferiority. 

III.  From  the  religion  and  literature  of  any  por- 
tion of  mankind,  it  is  usual  to  infer  their  civil  and 
national  virtues;  and,  by  this  criterion,  we  cannot 
estimate  unfavourably  the  social  condition  of  our 
forefathers.  Their  unblemished  manners  and  do- 
mestic felicity  are  yet  commemorated,  by  their  sur- 
viving cotemporaries,  with  no  ordinary  transports  of 
admiration.  Something  is  perhaps  to  be  abated  for 
the  natural  disposition  of  man  to  rail  at  existing 
modes  and  institutions,  and  for  the  acknowledged 
privilege  of  old  age  to  amplify  the  virtues  and  em- 
bellish the  adventures  of  youth.  They  had,  however, 
reached,  without  doubt,  that  state  of  mediocrity  at 
which  the  experience  of  mankind  obliges  us  to  date 
the  supreme  political  happiness  of  a  nation;  equally 
remote  from  profusion  and  poverty,  from  the  rude- 
ness of  barbarism  and  the  vices  of  civilized  life;  and. 
without  claiming  the  license  of  poetical  enthusiasm. 


INTRODUCTION.  lHi 

we  may  safely  select  this  period  as  the  golden  age  of 
our  country. 

Many  things,  indeed,  which  are  held  in  admiration 
by  mortals,  they  are  said  to  have  been  ignorant  or 
destitute  of.'  The  philosopher  pale  with  meditation, 
the  pedant  with  grave  and  conscious  wisdom,  the 
refined  and  fascinating  courtier,  and  accomplished 
rake,  were  rarely  found  amongst  them.  No  profes- 
sional cook,  it  is  said,  by  the  various  arts  of  his  cu- 
linary science,  regaled  the  fastidious  senses  of  the 
epicurean,  or  appeased  the  incontinence  of  the  glut- 
ton. The  generous  wine  had  not  yet  grown  old  in 
the  cellars  of  their  provident  ancestors;  and  no  dwel- 
lings, more  splendid  than  the  temples  of  the  divinity, 
with  imposing  and  magnificent  columns,  with  imperi- 
al arches,  and  aspiring  domes,  arrested  the  eye  of 
the  architect,  or  poured  from  their  spacious  halls 
the  supplicating  crowd. 

In  compensation  for  these  attendants  of  polished 
life,  they  were  exempt  from  the  odious  presence  of 
the  prostitute,  from  fawning  sycophants,  and  impe- 
rious lords;  from  publicans,  farmers  of  revenue, 
usurers,  and  all  that  tribe  of  police  officers,  who 
flourish  with  such  rank  exuberance  in  luxurious 
communities,  and  who,  joining  with  the  severity  of 
public  impositions,  their  private  rapacity,  erase  from 
the  heart  of  man  the  characters  of  his  patriotism 


Iiv  INTRODUCTION. 

and  independence.  There  was  sometimes  found 
among  them,  the  illiterate  but  uncorrupted  peasant, 
the  uncultivated  rustic,  the  ungracious  clown ;  rarely 
the  obsequious  parasite,  and  never  that  exquisite 
contrast  of  republican  dignity,  a  fop.  Their  prisons 
were  untenanted.  A  capital  crime  or  public  execu- 
tion was  a  strange  and  memorable  event.  No  va- 
grants, thieves,  incendiaries,  disgusted  the  feelings 
by  their  mendicity,  or  interrupted  the  public  tran- 
quillity by  their  crimes.  The  magnificent  palace 
had  not  frowned  upon  the  humble  residence  of  po- 
verty; despised  and  neglected  merit  had  not  crouched 
beneath  the  emblazoned  insolence  of  exalted  beg- 
gary. 

In  other  countries,  orators  extolled,  in  more  elo- 
quent phraseology,  the  blessings  of  liberty,  and  poets 
sung,  with  a  more  florid  imagination,  the  enjoyments 
of  a  simple  and  innocent  life.  The  lover,  too,  pour- 
ed in  more  melting  strains,  his  transitory  affection. 
The  grace,  the  urbanity,  which,  more  than  virtue, 
subjugates  the  heart;  the  insinuating  smiles  and 
gentle  accents  of  adulation;  the  elegance  and  capti- 
vating negligence  of  dress  that  exalt  the  natural  at- 
tractions of  female  beauty,  give  excitement  to  the 
passions,  refine  and  enervate  the  mind,  were  more 
frequent  amidst  the  specious  idleness  and  magnifi- 
cence of  princes.     These  things  were,  nevertheless, 


INTRODUCTION. 


IV 


admired  in  America,  and  in  populous  and  commer- 
cial cities  were  studied  with  a  pernicious  emulation. 
Social  intercourse  was  not,  however,  restrained 
by  formality  or  affectation,  nor  outraged  by  licen- 
tiousness; intrigue  and  sensuality  were  rarely  dis- 
guised in  sentiment,  or  lasciviousness  in  the  attrac- 
tive sweetness  of  modesty.  The  maid  walked  alone, 
amidst  the  darkness  of  the  night,  and  exempt  from 
insult,  in  the  streets  of  the  metropolis.  Parental  af- 
fection, youthful  innocence  and  conjugal  fidelity 
were  secured  by  domestic  industry,  religion,  and  by 
the  absence  of  those  artificial  decorations  which  ex- 
alt the  imagination  of  man,  and  which  heighten  the 
charms,  at  the  same  time  they  increase  the  dangers, 
the  weakness  and  lubricity  of  woman.  Contempt 
had  not,  as  in  most  other  countries,  discouraged  the 
virtues,  or  aggravated  the  afflictions  of  poverty:  nor 
had  industry  surrendered  to  pride  and  arrogance  the 
prerogatives  of  her  superiority.  In  the  mansion  of 
the  rich,  unceremonious  welcome  presided  at  the 
board  of  festivity;  and  the  master  was  often  found, 
unoffended  by  the  condition  or  complexion  of  his 
servant,  at  the  same  table  with  him  In  the  dwelling 
of  the  peasant,  the  liberal  host,  with  officious  se- 
dulity, dispensed  the  first  fruits  of  his  labour,  and 
cheered  the  stranger  with  the  purest  offerings  of  his 
homely  munificence. 


Ivi  INTRODUCTION. 

Thus,  our  forefathers,  uncorrupted  by  the  delica- 
cies, uninfected  by  the  diseases  of  satiety,  stood  forth 
in  defence  of  our  freedom  and  independence;  they 
enjoyed,  at  the  same  time,  beneath  the  "  illustrious 
roof"  of  the  cottage,  a  happiness  which  their  poste- 
rity shall  seek  for  in  vain  in  the  midst  of  their  fas- 
tidious abundance.  In  the  goblet  of  gold,  Thyestes 
drank  the  blood  of  his  son;  from  the  cup  of  earth, 
Fabricius  poured  his  libations  to  the  gods. 

IV.  The  nations  of  Europe  having  trodden  the 
same  path  from  barbarism  to  civilization,  the  same 
virtues  and  vices,  the  same  vicissitudes  of  prosper- 
ous and  adverse  fortune  have  attended  them.  The 
familiarity  and  antiquity  of  their  intercourse  have 
produced  a  degree  of  insensibility  to  the  lustre  of 
each  others  perfections,  and  have  smoothed,  at  the 
same  time,  the  rude  features  of  their  deformity. 
The  American  people,  from  their  sudden  and  recent 
emergence  among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  have 
been  observed  with  a  more  scrupulous  penetration; 
on  the  one  side,  with  passions  embittered  by  political 
hostility,  or  by  the  prejudices  with  which  monarchy 
usually  regards  the  institutions  of  a  republic;  on  the 
other,  with  all  that  cordiality  of  feeling  which  age 
and  generosity  so  willingly  bestow  upon  youthful 
merit.     Their  national  virtues  iiave  therefore  been 


INTRODUCTION.  lvii 

exalted,  in  some  instances,  by  excessive  panegyrics, 
and  more  frequently  have  been  assailed  by  extrava- 
gant censure.  To  rectify  the  opinions  that  prevail 
on  this  subject,  a  few  remarks  may  not  be  superflu- 
ous, and  with  these  we  shall  conclude  the  subject  of 
the  present  chapter. 

Although  the  blood  of  all  nations  circulates  in  the 
veins  of  the  American  people,  it  is  nevertheless  evi- 
dent, from  an  inspection  of  their  history  and  political 
institutions,  that  they  are  characterized  by  a  greater 
uniformity  and  originality  of  configuration,  than  are 
any  of  the  communities  of  Europe  from  which  they 
are  descended;  and,  that  at  the  same  time,  they  pos- 
sess, in  no  inferior  degree,  all  those  national  virtues 
upon  which  mankind  have  founded  their  most  ho- 
norable titles  to  consideration. 

In  physical  endowments,  in  size,  strength,  muscu- 
lar activity,  and  beauty  of  conformation,  they  are 
allowed,  by  the  concurring  evidence  of  travellers, 
a  superiority  over  most  nations  of  the  old  world; 
and  that  the  intermixture  of  different  people  does 
not  operate  any  moral  degeneracy  of  the  race  of 
man,  but  has  a  contrary  tendency,  is  evinced  by 
the  example  of  many  illustrious  nations.  The  com- 
monwealths of  Greece,  Rome,  and  the  kingdom  of 
Great  Britain  itself,  where  the  faculties  and  vir- 
vol.  i.  h 


lviii  INTRODUCTION. 

tues  of  human  nature  have  appeared  in  their  bright- 
est lustre,  were,  in  their  institution,  more  variously 
compounded  than  the  communities  of  the  American 
republic. 

Ireland,  Scotland  and  Wales,  which  have  long 
been  constituent  parts  of  the  British  empire,  retain 
all  the  characters  of  distinct  and  independent  na- 
tions; and  the  same  diversity  has  existed  for  ages 
in  the  provinces  of  France,  of  Germany  and  Spain. 
In  America,  the  elements  of  the  population  are 
more  equally  and  variously  distributed;  and  con- 
tinual intercourse  between  the  states,  favoured  by 
their  proximity  and  coincidence  of  language  and 
government,  has  effaced  all  those  prominent  cha- 
racteristics by  which  they  may  have  been  originally 
distinguished.  The  facility  afforded  to  strangers,  and 
to  all  the  orders  of  society,  of  participating  in  the 
administration  and  dignities  of  the  state,  necessarily 
creates  a  patriotic  attachment  to  the  government,  ex- 
cites the  ambition  of  learning  its  existing  customs 
and  laws;  and,  by  a  community  of  pursuits  and  so- 
cial feelings,  the  predilections  of  the  foreigner  are  ex- 
tinguished; he  becomes,  in  mind  as  in  manners,  in- 
corporated with  the  body  of  the  nation.  The  Jews  may 
afford,  of  this  subject,  the  most  pertinent  exemplifica- 
tion. This  tribe  of  people,  who,  in  other  countries,  have 
existed  for  centuries  distinct  and  degraded,  being  re- 


INTRODUCTION.  Hx 

stored,  in  America,  to  the  natural  privileges  of  man, 
are  regenerated,  and  identified  with  the  common  mass 
of  the  population .  A  uniformity  of  character  is  also 
established  in  this  country  by  the  universal  diffusion 
of  education;  promoted  by  the  establishment  of 
schools,  by  the  freedom  of  discussion,  and,  especially, 
by  the  circulation  of  literary  journals,  which,  being 
read  by  all,  create  a  reciprocity  of  feeling,  and  main- 
tain not  only  an  equality,  but  identity  of  knowledge, 
throughout  all  the  orders  of  the  community.  This 
important  object  is,  in  most  other  countries,  pre- 
vented by  a  disparity  of  rank,  by  the  dependence  and 
illiteracy  of  the  lower  classes  of  the  state. 

The  love  of  liberty,  wherever  the  character  of  man 
is  not  degraded  from  its  dignity,  will  be  ranked  among 
the  most  glorious  attributes  of  a  nation.  And  of  the 
Americans,  it  may  be  asserted,  without  a  violation  of 
truth,  that  they  possessed  this  virtue  beyond  the  exam- 
ple of  modern  times.  It  was  by  the  instigation  of  this 
spirit  that  the  first  emigrants  traversed  the  Atlantic, 
and  buried  themselves  in  the  depths  of  an  inaccessible 
solitude.  For  who,  indeed,  independent  of  the  dangers 
of  a  rude  and  boisterous  ocean,  would  have  exchanged 
the  polished  and  civilized  nations  of  Europe,  for  a  re- 
gion terrific  in  climate  and  aspect,  infested  by  disease, 
possessed  by  savages  and  wild  beasts,  unless  in  quest 
of  liberty? 


IX  INTRODUCTION. 

The  frequent  discussions  and  contests  in  which 
they  were  involved  during  their  political  connexion 
with  the  parent  country,  completed  the  extinction 
of  whatever  partialities  they  might  have  retained  in 
favour  of  monarchy,  and  strengthened  their  abhor- 
rence of  tyranny.  Their  descendants  were  elevated 
in  the  same  sacred  antipathies.  They  were  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  the  images  of  freedom;  and, 
when  the  happiness  of  their  condition  had  solicited 
the  regards  of  royalty,  she  appeared  among  them 
devested  of  her  illusions,  and  clad  in  the  habiliments 
of  oppression;  and  these,  too,  of  the  most  disgusting 
deformity.  For,  more  than  all  other  species  of  des- 
potism, that  which  is  exercised  against  colonies  is 
odious,  insatiate,  and  insupportable;  not  only  from  the 
natural  haughtiness  of  metropolitan  sovereignty,  but 
because  remote  and  subordinate  states  are  usually 
administered  by  necessitous  and  rapacious  gover- 
nors, placed  beyond  the  sphere  of  observation,  with- 
out any  interest  in  the  prosperity  of  the  people; 
because  the  tyrant  is  himself  exempt  from  fear,  al- 
most the  only  sentiment  that  providence  has  reserv- 
ed, in  the  perversity  of  human  nature,  to  check  the 
insolence  and  mitigate  the  rigors  of  arbitrary  power. 
From  the  facility  of  possessing  lands  in  a  new 
country,  from  the  restrictions  upon  commerce  and 
manufactures,  the  emigrants  became,  for  the  most 


INTRODUCTION.  lxi 

part,  cultivators  of  the  earth.  They  were  absolute 
proprietors  of  their  farms,  exempt  from  taxes  and 
from  all  the  memorials  of  dependence  and  feudal 
servitude,  feeling  no  subordination  but  to  that  Provi- 
dence from  whom  alone  they  derived  their  protec- 
tion. When  remote  from  the  contagion  of  corrupt 
cities,  and  the  influence  of  tyranny,  man  acquires,  in 
the  pursuits  of  agriculture,  an  elevation  of  mind,  a 
sense  of  personal  dignity,  an  impatience  of  human 
control.  Not  only  the  arrogance  and  servility  pro- 
duced by  unequal  fortune  and  rank,  but  even  that 
deference  which  is  essential  in  the  occupations  of 
artificers  and  merchants,  is  unknown  to  him. 

Thus,  the  colonists,  nurtured  from  the  tenderness  of 
youth  to  the  vigor  of  maturity,  under  the  influence  of 
the  most  salutary  discipline,  offered  at  the  altar  of 
liberty  their  richest  oblations.  And  for  the  ardor  and 
innocence  of  their  devotions,  we  may  attest  the  un- 
intermitting  vigilance  and  the  valour  with  which  they 
protected  their  political  privileges  against  foreign  ag- 
gression, the  blood  and  treasure  they  expended  in  the 
vindication  of  their  independence,  and,  finally,  the 
establishment  of  a  government,  which,  for  the  free- 
dom and  liberality  of  its  institutions,  has  no  parallel 
in  the  history  of  nations. 

That  they  possessed  fortitude,  perseverance,  cour- 
age and  enterprise,  in  an  eminent  degree,  may  like- 


Ixil  INTRODUCTION. 

wise  be  affirmed  upon  the  most  incontrovertible  testi- 
mony; upon  the  resolute  spirit  with  which  they  encoun- 
tered the  obstacles  opposed  to  their  migration  and 
settlements,  and  the  valour  displayed  in  the  various 
scenes  of  their  civil  and  military  transactions.  To 
the  inhabitants  of  New  England,  especially,  we 
may  apply  the  quality  of  perseverance  even  to  its 
most  obstinate  excess.  Nothing  obsequious  or  plas- 
tic is,  at  least,  discovered  in  the  constitutional  ele- 
ments of  that  people;  and  "  the  land  of  steady  habits/' 
so  frequently  used  to  designate  a  portion  of  their 
country,  appears,  from  its  history,  to  be  no  vague  or 
idle  denomination.  Throughout  the  annals  of  the 
colonies,  we  find  no  instance  in  which  they  were  in- 
timidated at  the  aspect  of  danger,  or  sunk  into  heart- 
less pusillanimity  under  the  malevolence  of  fortune. 
Their  passage  across  the  Atlantic,  the  contiguity  of 
their  settlements  to  the  sea  coast,  and  to  the  great 
inland  streams  that  traverse  their  country,  inspired 
and  cherished  that  spirit  of  commercial  intrepidity 
which  has  enriched,  and  distinguished  their  succes- 
sors. 

The  condition  of  the  colonists,  who  were  placed  in 
a  perpetual  community  with  dangers  and  difficulties, 
required  the  full  exercise  of  their  mental  and  phy- 
sical faculties.  At  the  same  time  that  exertion  be- 
stowed upon  them  an  athletic  vigour  and  activity  of 


INTRODUCTION.  lxiii 

frame,  they  acquired  an  intellectual  vivacity,  and, 
what  is  not  less  important  in  a  national  than  indi- 
vidual character,  the  habit  of  pursuing,  in  their  ope- 
rations, the  admonitions  of  experience,  and  the  con- 
victions of  their  own  senses.  In  ancient  and  cultivated 
countries,  where  the  same  modes  of  labour  have  been 
pursued  for  ages,  men  are  subservient  to  inveterate 
habits,  and  generations  with  little  improvement  of  their 
moral  energies,  tread  on  successively,  upon  the  beaten 
track  of  those  who  preceded  them.  In  America,  the 
labourer  appeared  upon  a  new  scene  of  action.  The 
skill  of  the  husbandman  was  no  longer  confined  to 
the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  He  was  placed  in  a  desert 
coeval  with  the  globe,  and  untouched  by  the  axe;  obli- 
ged, by  the  solitude  of  his  condition,  to  construct  his 
own  buildings,  provide,  by  his  own  industry,  the  in- 
struments of  his  trade,  and  derive  from  his  individual 
resources,  all  the  means  of  subsistence  and  conve- 
nience. The  Americans  may,  therefore,  be  charac- 
terized without  hesitation,  in  a  degree  not  inferior 
to  any  nation  of  the  earth,  by  sagacity  of  mind  and 
soundness  of  understanding.  Many  inventions  of 
their  ingenuity  might  be  enumerated,  which  conduce 
not  only  to  the  promotion  of  the  useful  arts,  but  bear 
upon  them  the  stamp  of  preeminent  genius. 

Of  humanity — that  quality  that  most  adorns  the 
character  of  a  nation,  that  vivifying  spirit  that  per- 


lxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

vades,  amplifies,  animates  all  the  other  virtues  of  the 
heart,  and,  without  which,  even  the  love  of  liberty  is 
devested  of  its  lustre  and  beneficence — an  equal  por- 
tion with  the  most  civilized  nations  must  be  allowed 
to  the  founders  of  the  American  republic.  For  a  di- 
rect confirmation  of  this,  we  may  refer  to  their  civil 
institutions,  to  the  foundation  of  hospitals,  schools, 
charitable  and  religious  associations,  to  their  love  of 
peace,  and  the  lenient  spirit  with  which  they  prose- 
cuted their  wars.  In  their  legislation  they  mitigated 
the  severity  of  the  criminal  laws.  The  privileges 
of  primogeniture,  confiscation,  exile,  corruption  of 
blood,  game  laws,  and  all  those  majestic  monuments 
of  inhumanity,  which  have  resisted  the  ravages  of 
time,  and  still  subsist,  with  few  exceptions,  in  the 
governments  of  Europe,  were  abolished  from  their 
system  of  jurisprudence.  By  the  declaration  of  their 
independence,  by  their  federal  and  state  constitutions, 
all  those  political  distinctions  of  rank  and  privilege, 
which,  in  other  countries,  are  confirmed  by  the  solem- 
nity of  law,  consecrated  by  inveterate  custom,  and 
which,  at  the  same  time,  are  repugnant  to  all  the 
principles  of  natural  justice,  religion  and  humanity, 
were  explicitly  disclaimed;  and  the  prerogatives  of 
the  human  race  vindicated,  as  far,  at  least,  as  ser- 
vility and  pride  can  be  controlled  by  human  insti- 
tutions. 


INTRODUCTION.  lxv 

Among  the  qualities  by  which  nations  are  distin- 
guished there  is  yet  one  that,  more  than  all  others,  has 
called  into  activity  the  virtuous  energies  of  the  human 
mind,  and  to  which  all  ages  have  gratuitously  offered 
their  highest  tribute  of  admiration.  It  is  that  kindred 
affection,  that  is  felt  and  not  defined,  by  which  man 
is  bound  to  the  land  of  his  nativity; — by  which  the 
savage  clings  to  his  barren  mountains,  and  the  Sibe- 
rian shivers  amidst  the  ice  and  eternal  snows  of  his 
native  desert,  in  contempt  of  the  enjoyments  of  a 
more  genial  clime — it  is  that  sympathetic  spirit  which 
impels  him  to  rejoice,  with  a  generous  pride,  at  the 
prosperity  of  his  country,  and,  with  a  filial  tender- 
ness, to  weep  over  her  misfortunes;  which  identifies 
her  glory  with  his  individual  honour,  teaches  him  to 
regard  her  errors,  as  the  foibles  of  a  mother,  with 
extenuation,  and  to  offer  the  willing  sacrifice  of  his 
life  in  her  defence.  It  is  patriotism.  A  feeling  that  is 
interwoven  with  the  most  intimate  contexture,  and 
comprehends,  it  is  said,  all  the  honest  affections  and 
charities  of  the  human  heart*  To  this  virtue  our 
ancestors  have  the  most  honorable  and  indispu- 
table titles;  founded  upon  the  acknowledged  fideli- 
ty and  bravery  with  which,  on  all  occasions,  they 
defended  their  country,  upon  their  sensibility  to  na- 

*  Cari  sunt  parentes,  cari  liberi,  propinqui,  familiares;  sed 
omnes  omnium  caritates  patria  una  complexa  est.     Cicero. 
VOL.  I.  I 


ixvi  INTRODUCTION. 

tional  insult,  their  devotion  to  liberty,  and,  above  all. 
upon  that  beneficent  and  paternal  regard,  with  which 
they  consulted,  at  the  hazard  of  their  individual  re- 
pose, their  fortunes,  and  their  lives,  the  glory  and 
happiness  of  their  posterity. 

I  have  now  considered  most  of  those  radical  vir- 
tues upon  which  men  usually  vindicate  their  claims 
to  national  preeminence;  and  have  endeavoured  to 
estimate,  without  amplification,  the  degree  of  excel- 
lence with  which  they  may  be  applied  to  the  Ameri- 
can people.    That  the  radiance  of  these  virtues  is,  in 
luany  instances,  clouded  by  vices,  must,  at  the  same 
time,  be  admitted;  for,  he  who  claims  for  his  country 
an  exemption  from  the  infirmities  of  human  nature, 
is  justly  subject  to  the  imputation  of  arrogance  and 
vanity.  It  will,  however,  be  readily  confessed,  that  vi- 
ces are  yet  practised  among  the  Americans  with  com- 
parative moderation,  and  there  are,  perhaps  none 
that  appear  with  characteristic  malignity  sufficient 
to  deform  the  symmetry  of  the  features  with  which  I 
have  represented  them.    No  race  of  people-have,  in- 
deed, more  substantial  reason  to  be  proud  of  the  con- 
dition of  their  birth,  if  man  could  exult  with  propri- 
ety in  the  enjoyment  of  an  accidental  prerogative,  or 
the  transitory  felicity  of  this  world.    But,  whoever 
will  consider  how  soon  the  noblest  faculties  are  per- 
verted, how  easily  the  most  generous  virtues  yield 


INTRODUCTION.  lxvii 

to  the  insidious  approaches  of  temptation,  the  ten- 
dency of  liberty  to  licentiousness,  of  prosperity  to 
arrogance  and  folly,  will  find  less  cause  of  exulta- 
tion at  the  privileges  than  of  solicitude  for  the  fate  of 
his  country. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Of  the  Civil  Institutions  of  the  Colonists,  and  their 
Political  Relations  with  the  Mother  Country. 

The  annals  of  our  country  do  not  furnish  those  bril- 
liant transactions  or  vicissitudes,  which  animate  the 
narrations  of  the  historian  or  which  rouse  and  keep 
alive  the  admiration  of  the  reader.  Its  original  oc- 
curences have  not  yet  acquired  the  reverence  of  age; 
they  are  likewise  unattended  by  those  marvellous 
events,  by  which,  the  chronicles  of  nations  that  are 
lost  in  the  mazes  of  antiquity  or  ignorance  are  usually 
diversified  and  distinguished. 

The  Greeks,  to  enliven  the  dull  scenes  of  their  in- 
fant story,  clad  their  sturdy  ancestors  in  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts,  fed  them  upon  acorns,  and  traced  them 
to  their  subterraneous  caverns;  or,  to  supply  the  bar- 
renness of  incidents,  sent  forth,  in  the  armour  of  in- 
vincibility, a  Hercules  or  a  Theseus  to  combat  the  fa- 


1XX  INTRODUCTION. 

bled  monsters  of  the  desert.  The  Romans,  to  gratify 
their  national  pride,  traced  their  genealogy  to  the 
gods,  and  enlisted  the  interests  of  heaven  in  the 
foundation  of  their  mighty  empire.  The  historians 
of  modern  Europe  have  used  this  license,  which  the 
same  obscurity  of  origin  affords  them,  with  no  less  ge- 
nius and  ingenuity.  They  have  amused  or  overwhel- 
med us  with  the  details  of  ravage  and  devastation 
which  outstrip  the  fury  of  the  tempest,  or  exceed  in 
terror  the  convulsions  of  the  earthquake.  Those  sa- 
vage tribes,  which  shrunk,  in  the  forests  of  Germa- 
ny, from  the  tenth  legion  of  Caesar,  are  magnified 
to  a  nation  of  heroes;  and  myriads  of  barbarians 
nourished  amidst  the  uncultivated  and  barren  re- 
gions of  the  north,  have  been  set  loose,  by  the  prolific 
fancy  of  these  writers,  in  massacre  and  havoc,  upon 
the  civilized  world. 

But  the  history  of  the  origin  of  our  country  is  not 
less  instructive,  though  less  amusing,  by  being  limited 
to  the  simplicity  of  truth.  In  this  dreary  region,  the 
American  citizen  is  to  investigate  the  principles  of 
his  existing  laws,  or  to  trace  to  their  elements  the  in- 
stitutions of  his  liberty,  and  observe  by  what  cultiva- 
tion and  care  of  his  ancestors,  the  seeds  of  his  inde- 
pendence have  grown  up  and  ripened  into  maturity. 
He  derives,  at  the  same  time,  from  their  example, 
from  their  virtues  and  errors  those  salutary  lessons 


INTRODUCTION.  IxXl 

of  instruction,  upon  which  depends  the  duration  of 
his  political  freedom.  For,  by  the  same  arts,  by 
which  liberty  is  vindicated,  it  must  be  propagated 
and  maintained.  And  no  people  are  perhaps  so  prone 
to  become  the  instruments  of  tyranny,  or  sink  with 
more  headlong  precipitation  into  the  abyss  of  cor- 
ruption than  those  who  have  lived  under  the  institu- 
tions of  a  republic.  Under  the  dominion  of  a  foreign 
prince,  a  priest  holds  the  sceptre  of  the  Caesars;  the 
subjects  of  a  despot  are  seated  upon  the  sacred  ashes 
of  Sparta. 

Having,  in  the  preceding  chapter,  enumerated  the 
principal  causes  which  induced  the  first  settlement  of 
the  colonies,  with  such  remarks  as  were  thought  most 
pertinent  to  illustrate  the  character  of  the  inhabitants, 
the  design  of  the  present  and  succeeding  ones  is  to 
treat  concisely  of  their  civil  institutions  and  the  po- 
litical relations  that  subsisted  between  them  and  the 
mother  country,  the  wars  they  achieved,  and  the 
spirit  with  which  they  sustained  them. 

A  right  of  possession  over  the  territories  of  the  new 
world  was  assumed  amongst  the  sovereigns  of  Europe 
by  preoccupancy  or  priority  of  discovery.  By  some  it 
was  derived  from  the  munificence  of  the  pope,  who 
asserted  a  divine  right  to  these  unappropriated  re- 
gions of  the  earth,  as  representative  of  heaven.  On 
the  former  of  these  titles,  the  king  of  England  estab- 


JXXii  INTRODUCTION. 

lished  his  dominions  in  America.  The  lands  ofthis  vast 
country  were  considered  as  the  exclusive  property 
of  the  crown,  placed  without  the  precincts  of  the 
realm  and  exempt  from  parliamentary  jurisdiction  or 
control.  They  were  apportioned  by  the  royal  authori- 
ty, and  confered  successively  upon  corporations  and 
individuals,  to  be  held  by  them  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  proprietors,  and  in  subordination  to  the  king 
only  as  their  supreme  sovereign  and  lord. 

Such  an  appropriation  of  these  territories,  was 
not  founded  upon  any  principle  of  human  reason  or 
justice,  but  upon  the  tyrannical  doctrine  of  the  feudal 
tenures,  introduced  by  the  Norman  conquest,  and 
which,  at  this  period,  was  a  fiction  even  in  English 
law,  "  that  the  king  is  the  universal  lord  and  original 
proprietor  of  all  the  lands  in  his  kingdom."  The 
colonists,  whose  occupancy  and  personal  labour  had 
given  to  themselves  the  most  justifiable  right  to  this 
country,  entertaining  but  general  notions  of  property 
and  little  skilled  in  the  niceties  of  law,  unconsciously 
admitted  in  their  first  settlements  this  extension  of 
the  feudal  system,  and  acquiesced  in  the  absurd  title 
of  their  monarch.  By  usage  it  was  ripened  into  an 
established  prerogative,  and  was  employed,  in  various 
instances,  by  an  exorbitant  increase  of  the  price  of 
land  or  a  refusal  of  the  petitions  for  it,  to  arrest 


INTRODUCTION.  lxxiil 

the  progress  of  population  in  America.  But  it  is 
easy  to  conceive  that  the  bold  adventurers,  who 
first  spread  their  colonies  over  a  surface  of  the  globe, 
so  distant,  so  obscure,  so  desolate,  were  not  induced 
into  the  enterprize,  for  institutions  less  liberal,  a  go- 
vernment less  free,  or  privileges  less  sacred,  than  those 
they  aspired  to,  or  abandoned  in  their  native  country. 
As  a  prelude  to  their  emigration,  charters  were,  there- 
fore, required  of  the  king,  in  which  not  only  was  the 
secure  possession  of  the  soil  conveyed  to  themselves, 
their  heirs  and  successors  forever,  but  the  frame  and 
powers  of  government,  and  mode  of  administration 
were  defined,  and  all  those  principles  of  liberty, 
deemed  most  essential  in  the  British  constitution, 
explicitly  recognised. 

These  charters,  though  granted  to  communities 
distinct  and  independent  of  each  other,  were,  never- 
theless, substantially  the  same;  and  their  political  in- 
stitutions bore  to  those  of  England  as  near  a  confor- 
mity as  the  nature  of  a  colonial  government  could 
admit.  To  a  president  or  governor,  who  held  his  of- 
fice at  the  discretion  of  the  king,  was  delegated  all 
the  executive,  judicial,  and  military  authority  resid- 
ing in  the  crown .  The  governor,  his  assistants,  with 
the  representatives  of  the  freemen,  composed  the 
legislative  council,  and  were  invested  with  all  the 
powers  of  legislation  inherent  in  the  parliament,  re- 

VOL.  I.  K 


lxxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

strained  only  from  such  acts  as  were  repugnant  to 
the  laws  and  constitution  of  England. 

The  settlements  of  New  England  were  origin- 
ally undertaken  at  a  time  of  faction  and  turbulence, 
without  a  premeditated  plan  of  colonization,  and 
were  exempt  from  the  interposition,  care  and  cogni- 
zance of  the  mother  country.  During  this  salutary 
neglect,  absolved  from  external  subjection,  and  pro- 
fiting by  the  immunities  of  their  invisibility  they  had 
not  only  established  in  their  different  communities  in- 
dependent sovereign  republics,  but  had  acquired  those 
habits  of  independence,  and  imbibed  that  inextin- 
guishable spirit  of  freedom,  which  afterwards  the 
interposing  power  of  Great  Britain  was  unable  to 
mitigate  or  control.  All  officers,  civil  and  military, 
were  chosen  by  the  suffrage  of  the  inhabitants.  The 
executive  power  was  vested  in  a  governor,  deputy 
and  assistants,  the  legislative  in  a  general  court,  com- 
posed of  the  above  and  the  freemen  of  the  common- 
wealth. 

This  country,  which  had  been  acquired  by  the  la- 
bour, lives,  and  fortunes  of  these  adventurers,  was 
afterwards,  by  their  prince,  distributed  among  his 
favourites,  or  sold  to  companies  and  individuals  who 
had  contributed  nothing  to  the  foundation  of  it.  The 
form  of  government  already  established  was,  howe- 
ver, by  their  original  charters,  permitted  to  subsist; 


INTRODUCTION. 


lxxv 


and  Connecticut,  by  a  pertinacious  defence  of  her 
privileges,  and  by  favoring  heaven,  retained  her  free 
institutions  down  to  the  period  of  her  independence. 
The  haughty  and  high-spirited  republicans  of  Mas- 
sachusetts yielded,  in  1692,  with  a  reluctant  and 
indignant  submission,  the  choice  of  their  governor  to 
the  crown.   But  they  asserted  and  maintained  with 
so  great  obstinacy  the  influence  of  their  colonial  le- 
gislature that  they  circumscribed  this  authority  of  the 
king,  and  rendered  it,  in  some  degree,  impotent  and 
innoxious  to  the  liberties  of  the  province. 

Such,  in  their  original  establishments,  were  the  po- 
litical institutions  of  the  colonists  and  their  primitive 
relations  with  the  mother  country.   They  had  migra- 
ted to   America  with  all  the  attributes  of  freemen, 
and  under  the  sanction  of  that  eternal  privilege  which 
nature  has  impartially  conferred  upon  the  human  race. 
They  departed,  because   their  happiness  required 
it,  from  the  land  in  which  accident  and  not  choice 
had  determined  their  birth.   They  sought  a  habita- 
tion in   America,  as  their  Saxon  ancestors  in  the  is- 
land of  Britain,  and  like  them  were  absolved,  by  the 
principles  of  natural  justice,  from  all  claims  of  depen- 
dance  or  superiority  asserted  over  them  by  that  coun- 
try from  which  they  had  migrated.    Their  own  blood 
was  spilt  in  acquiring  lands  for  their  settlement,  their 
own  fortunes  expended  in  making  that  settlement 


1XXV1  INTRODUCTION. 

effectual; "  for  themselves  they  fought,  for  themselves 
they  conquered,  and  for  themselves  alone  they  had  a 
right  to  hold  their  dominions."  But  a  portion  of  this 
natural  sovereignty  they  had,  from  ignorance,  impro- 
vidence, or  convenience,  surrendered  to  the  feudal 
pretensions  of  the  English  monarchy,  retaining, 
however,  those  rights  which  were  inherent  in  them, 
as  citizens  of  the  British  empire  in  Europe. 

Charles  the  first,  who  ruled  his  native  kingdom 
with  the  violence  of  a  despot,  extended  also  the  arm 
of  tyranny  to  his  foreign  dominions.  Without  regard 
to  the  natural  rights  of  the  colonists  or  the  privile- 
ges of  their  charters,  he  had  conceived,  in  the  mad 
assumption  of  his  regal  prerogatives,  that  these  distant 
countries  were  to  be  governed  as  provinces  under  ab- 
solute subjection  to  the  crown.  He  made  laws,  ordi- 
nances, constitutions,  without  their  participation.  He 
appointed  royal  commissioners  who  were  erected  into 
a  council  for  the  plantations,  and  a  supreme  court  of 
appeal  for  the  colonial  governments,  to  enforce  obe- 
dience to  his  arbitrary  decrees.  This  commission  was 
annulled  at  the  death  of  that  profligate  monarch,  but 
the  same  system  of  violence  descended  to  his  succes- 
sors. It  was  exercised  with  lenity,  during  the  com- 
monwealth, and  resumed,  at  the  restoration,  with  all 
the  rage  and  insolence  of  tyranny. 


INTRODUCTION.  lXXVU 

After  the  revolution,  when  the  principles  of  liber- 
ty were  better  understood  and  defined,  this  assump- 
tion of  authority  by  the  king  and  his  privy  council  to 
make  laws  for  British  subjects,  even  in  America,  was 
urged  with  diffidence,  or  disguised  in  more  cautious 
and  insidious  formalities.  The  same  unconstitutional 
power  was  afterwards  delegated,  on  various  occa- 
sions, to  the  provincial  governors,  and  a  clause  was 
uniformly  annexed  to  their  commissions,  asserting 
the  unlimited  authority  of  the  crown. 

These  acts  of  usurpation  first  devised  by  the  king 
in  his  individual  capacity,  and  afterwards  exerted  by 
the  commonwealth  without  the  intervention  of  royal- 
ty, were  consummated  at  the  reestablishment  of  the 
monarchy  by  the  collective  sovereignty  of  king,  lords, 
and  commons. 

All  communication  of  the  royal  power  with  the 
other  branches  of  the  legislature  was  repugnant  to 
the  charters  and  allegiance  of  the  colonies;  but,  being 
admitted,  necessarily  established  a  new  connexion 
of  rights  and  obligations.  From  that  moment  the 
American  people  were  no  longer  a  distinct  but  a 
coherent  and  indivisible  part  of  the  British  empire; 
and  not  having  forfeited,  by  the  act  of  migration, 
their  constitutional  liberties,  were  entitled  to  a  parti- 
cipation in  the  legislative  authority  destined  to  govern 
them.  Since,  by  the  very  spirit  of  that  constitution 
to  which  the  parliament  itself  owed  its  existence, 


lxXVlii  INTRODUCTION. 

every  individual  of  the  realm,  either  in  person  or  by  his 
representatives,  was  supposed  to  be  present  in  this 
great  council  of  the  nation.  And  the  right  of  partici- 
pation, when  considered  with  regard  to  the  imposition 
of  internal  taxes,  became  sacred  and  inviolable.  For, 
in  this  act  of  legislation,  the  king  and  lords  were  but 
consentient  authorities.  It  was  confined  to  the  agency 
of  the  commons  as  the  immediate  deputies  of  the  peo- 
ple, who  knowing  more  intimately  the  condition  and 
interests  of  the  cities  and  counties  they  were  chosen 
to  represent,  were  the  natural  protectors  of  the  pos- 
sessions and  industry  of  the  kingdom. 

On  the  power  of  refusing  or  granting  money,  the 
dignity,  preeminence,  even  the  existence  of  the  house 
of  commons  reposed.  It  was  on  this  solid  basis  that 
the  people  had  raised,  by  the  labour  of  many  centuries, 
and  the  expense  of  much  blood,  an  inexpugnable  bar- 
rier against  the  domineering  ambition  of  their  kings. 
But  they  who  with  so  much  spirit  and  intripidity  had 
vindicated  their  own  liberty,  were  willing  to  encroach 
upon  that  of  others.  Over  their  kinsmen  of  America, 
they  usurped  a  jurisdiction  which  they  had  them- 
selves disclaimed  by  rebellion,  and  attempted  to  ap- 
propriate those  privileges  which  they  had  proclaimed 
as  the  birthright  of  Englishmen,  and  which  they  had 
consecrated  by  the  death  or  expulsion  of  their  sove- 
reigns and  by  the  blood  of  a  civil  war. 


INTRODUCTION.  lxxix 

In  the  exercise  of  this  supreme  jurisdiction  of  par- 
liament in  the  administration  of  the  provinces,  there 
do  not  occur,  unless  we  may  except  some  tran- 
sient ordinance  to  gratify  local  or  religious  partiali- 
ties, any  acts  tending  to  confer  on  them  dignity  or 
honour,  or  to  promote  their  prosperity.  It  is  the  in- 
famous and  distinguishing  characteristic  of  this  au- 
thority to  have  been  exerted  only  in  measures  of  seve- 
rity and  oppression,  in  odious  and  impotent  attempts 
to  repress  industry,  extinguish  liberty,  and  extort  obe- 
dience to  usurped  and  despotic  power.  However 
conspicuous  in  the  eyes  of  mankind  may  appear  this 
august  council  of  the  British  nation,  for  wisdom,  elo- 
quence, and  devotion  to  freedom,  however  magnani- 
mous in  their  transactions  with  the  rest  of  the  world, 
the  records  of  their  colonial  administration  will  pre- 
sent to  the  eyes  of  future  generations,  but  the  gloomy 
naratives  of  iniquity  and  folly,  of  contemptuous  inso- 
lence or  obdurate  insensibility.  Like  the  gods  of 
Epicurus  they  seem,  in  their  ambrosial  felicity,  to 
have  been  regardless  of  their  children,  unless,  to  in- 
spire them  with  humility  and  awe,  they  sometimes 
bombarded  them  with  thunder-bolts,  or  terrified  them 
with  storms. 

During  the  tender  years  of  their  infancy,  exposed 
in  a  wild,  perilous  and  solitary  region,  where  their 
condition  required  the  consoling  cares  of  maternity, 
they  were  then  too  distant  and  too  inconsiderable  to 


1XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

arrest  observation  amidst  the  magnificent  politics  of 
Europe.  When  they  had  smoothed  the  desert,  and 
by  the  hard  hand  of  indefatigable  toil,  had  drawn 
from  its  bosom  abundant  nourishment,  when  com- 
merce and  arts  had  lent  their  aid  to  the  labours  of 
the  husbandman,  they  became  then  the  objects  of 
regard,  and  their  rights  and  privileges  a  subject  of 
discussion. 

The  first  impressions  received  by  the  British  par- 
liament in  weighing  the  destinies  of  these  colonies 
was  gloomy  and  inauspicious.  Violent  fears  were 
manifested  by  their  most  eminent  politicians,  that  the 
prosperity  of  the  new  world  and  the  temptations  to 
emigrate  to  it,  would  exhaust  the  vigour  of  the  mo- 
ther country.  Measures  were  therefore  devised,  by 
public  writings,  by  restraints  on  emigration,  by  or- 
dinances and  acts  of  parliament  to  counteract  an  evil 
so  portentous. 

Apprehensions  of  a  rivalry  in  trade  afforded  a  se- 
cond cause  of  alarm  much  less  visionary  and  phantas- 
tic;  and  against  the  natural  rights  of  free  commerce, 
which  the  colonies  possessed  with  all  parts  of  the 
world,  the  parliament  commenced,  by  the  most  fla- 
grant acts  of  injustice,  the  career  of  her  ungenerous 
and  illiberal  hostility.  From  the  insular  situation  of 
Great  Britain,  the  genius  and  disposition  of  her  in- 
habitants, it  is  upon  her  trade  and  maritime  strength 


INTRODUCTION.  lxxxi 

that  depend  the  security  and  preeminence  of  her 
empire;  and  to  monopolize  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  has  employed  all  the  nerves  of  her  warriors  and 
engrossed  all  the  speculations  of  her  statesmen.  The 
maintenance  of  her  commercial  superiority,  she  re- 
gards as  a  law  of  self  preservation,  in  which  it  is  per- 
mitted not  only  to  violate,  without  criminality,  the 
equal  rights  of  foreign  nations,  but  without  injury  or 
compunction  the  personal  liberty  of  her  own  subjects. 
The  sensibility  of  her  legislators  is,  therefore,  on  this 
subject,  more  than  all  others,  prompt  and  exquisite, 
and  their  sagacity  acute  and  providential. 

As  early  as  1650,  under  the  commonwealth,  all 
foreign  nations  were  forbidden,  by  act  of  parliament, 
to  trade  with  the  English  plantations  of  America, 
which  were  now  to  be  excluded  from  the  commerce 
of  the  whole  world,  except  of  the  island  of  Great 
Britain.  This  arbitrary  law  was,  indeed,  soon  after- 
wards revoked  in  favour  of  the  petitions  and  impor- 
tunities of  the  colonists;  but  on  the  accession  of 
Charles  the  second  to  the  throne,  the  same  tyran- 
nical limitations,  with  a  more  gradual  and  unrelent- 
ing severity,  were  imposed  upon  them.  Among  the 
earliest  transactions  of  his  reign,  a  duty  was  laid 
upon  all  merchandize  exported  from  or  imported 
into  the  English  colonial  dominions.  This  regulation 
was  soon  followed  by  a  series  of  similar  restrictions. 

VOL.  I.  L 


lxXXil  INTRODUCTION. 

and  at  last  by  the  famous  navigation  act,  by  which  the 
whole  commerce  of  the  colonies,  with  the  exception 
of  some  enumerated  commodities  that  could  not  be 
furnished  or  received  by  the  mother  country,  was 
restricted  to  English  vessels,  to  be  navigated  by 
Englishmen,  and  transported  to  those  countries  only 
belonging  to  the  English  crown.  By  this  exclusive 
privilege  of  American  commerce,  the  British  mer- 
chants were  enabled  to  raise  the  price  of  their  com- 
modities and  diminish  that  of  the  colonial  produce 
according  to  the  dictates  of  their  avarice.  And  they 
indulged  in  this  licence  with  no  ordinary  rapacity. 
Even  the  "  enumerated  articles,"  it  was  not  permit- 
ted to  carry  to  any  port  to  the  northward  of  Cape 
Finisterre;  and  the  surplus  produce,  which  remained 
from  the  consumption  of  the  English  market,  was 
nevertheless  made  subservient  to  the  interest  of  the 
British  traders.  It  was  transported,  according  to  the 
injunctions  of  the  law,  to  their  ports;  it  was  estima- 
ted at  their  discretion,  and  being  shipped  from 
thence  to  foreign  countries,  was  sold  for  their  exclu- 
sive profit,  at  its  full  value. 

When  the  parliament,  by  these  arbitrary  measures, 
had  regulated,  as  it  was  called,  the  commerce  of  the 
American  states;  proceeding  one  step  further,  she 
interposed  her  sovereignty  in  limiting  their  internal 
rights,  in  modifying  their  civil  and  municipal  institu- 


INTRODUCTION.  IxXXui 

tions.  Acts  were  successively  passed  for  regulating 
their  money,  changing  the  nature  of  estates,  and  of 
evidence  in  the  courts  of  common  law;  for  dissolving 
legislative  bodies,  taking  away  their  charters,  abolish- 
ing their  laws,  and  altering  fundamentally  the  forms 
of  their  government. 

An  object  which  kindled  in  England  an  early  soli- 
citude, was  the  prohibition  of  colonial  manufactures. 
This  measure,  recommended  by  political  writers, 
was  enforced  by  the  legislature  with  unintermitting 
vigilance;  not  from  any  fear  of  rival  industry  in  the 
arts,  which,  from  the  scarcity  of  labourers  and  the 
facility  of  repressing  American  fabrics  by  a  forc- 
ed importation,  was  sufficiently  precluded;  nor  was 
it  altogether  from  a  spirit  of  commercial  cupidity; 
but  in  conformity  with  the  general  design  of  re- 
taining the  provincial  governments  in  subjection  to 
the  absolute  will  of  the  mother  country.  And  the 
most  potent  expedient  for  this  purpose  was  to  involve 
them  in  a  dependence  for  the  primary  necessities  of 
life. 

It  required  less  sagacity  than  usually  distinguished 
the  councils  of  the  British  nation  to  foresee  that  her 
colonies  of  America,  by  their  natural  growth,  were 
destined  to  become  a  great  and  powerful  empire;  and 
that  the  inhabitants  of  a  vast  continent  nursed  in  the 
sentiments  of  political  freedom,  and  hardened  by  the 


lxXXiv  INTRODUCTION. 

occupations  of  a  laborious  industry,  must,  at  no  very 
distant  period,  disdain  subjection  to  the  petty  domi- 
nions of  an  island.  Of  this  event  they  had  already 
given  them  frequent  and  ominous  indications.  The 
parliament,  therefore,  jealous  of  her  authority,  and 
indignant  at  this  anticipated  diminution  of  it,  sought, 
as  a  necessary  precaution,  to  repress  the  exuberance 
of  their  prosperity.  It  was  in  obedience  to  this  policy 
that,  by  refusing  the  appropriation  of  lands,  she  re- 
strained the  extension  of  their  settlements  towards 
the  west,  and  confined  them,  as  far  as  possible,  to  the 
vicinity  of  the  sea  coast,  where  they  might  be  more 
accessible  to  her  power  and  subservient  to  her  will; 
that  she  impeded  the  propagation  of  knowledge 
through  the  medium  of  the  press;  and  endeavoured 
to  counteract  all  projects  or  principles  of  union 
amongst  them,  even  when  a  confederacy  of  the  dif- 
ferent provinces,  against  the  depredations  of  the  sa- 
vages and  ambitious  designs  of  the  French,  seemed 
essential  to  their  mutual  protection.  She  assumed 
also,  as  if  to  remind  them  of  the  inferiority  of  their 
condition,  a  tone  of  haughtiness  in  the  assertion  of 
her  pretensions.  But  this  illiberal  spirit  of  hostility 
served  only  to  dissolve  the  ties  of  confidence  and 
affection,  to  provoke  suspicion;  and,  by  giving  con- 
tinual impulse  to  the  spirit  of  liberty,  to  precipitate 
that  event  it  was  designed  to  prevent. 


INTRODUCTION.  ixXXV 

In  the  fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  George  the  second 
an  act  was  passed,  by  which  American  subjects  were 
forbidden  to  make  hats  for  themselves  of  the  furs  of 
their  own  country — And  shall  posterity  then  ask  why 
the  spirit  of  their  forefathers  was  excited  to  rebellion? 
In  what  conquered  province  of  a  Roman  tyrant  shall 
they  seek  an  act  of  despotism  more  insolent!  in  what 
region  of  abject  slaves,  a  state  of  dependence  more 
infamous  and  servile!— By  another  act  of  the  same 
reign,  the  iron  taken  from  the  soil  of  their  own  pos- 
sessions, they  were  forbidden  to  manufacture;  and 
notwithstanding  its  utility  in  the  purposes  of  husban- 
dry, the  difficulties  of  its  transportation,  they  were 
constrained,  nevertheless,  with  all  the  incumbrances 
of  insurance,  commission,  freight  and  duties,  to  bear 
it  beyond  an  ocean  of  one  thousand  leagues,  and 
back  to  the  original  place  of  its  departure,  to  support 
the  machinery  of  the  island  of  Great  Britain. 

These  encroachments  upon  their  liberties,  the 
colonists,  even  in  their  humble  beginnings,  and  when 
the  instruments  of  tyranny  were  armed  with  omnipo- 
tent power,  opposed  with  a  resolute  and  dignified  spi- 
rit. Their  petitions  and  addresses  to  the  throne,  the 
remonstances  and  resolutions  of  their  provincial  as- 
semblies, were  temperate,  but  decisive  and  magnani- 
mous, equally  remote  from  insolence  and  supplica- 


lxXXVi  INTRODUCTION. 

tion,  and  were,  at  the  same  time,  direct  and  prophetic 
revelations  of  their  future  independence. 

New  England  and  Virginia,  from  the  priority  of 
their  settlements,  and  a  concurrence  of  accidental 
causes,  had  attained  a  preeminence  of  rank  amongst 
the  other  provinces.  Their  example  was,  therefore, 
the  more  contagious  and  formidable,  and  their  trans- 
gressions the  more  enormous;  they  became,  on  this 
account,  the  immediate  objects  of  royal  indignation. 
Massachusetts,  beyond  the  rest,  was  accounted  mu- 
tinous and  refractory.  She  was  accused  of  aiming  at 
independence,  of  a  contempt  of  sovereign  authority, 
a  disregard  of  the  acts  of  navigation,  and  of  refusing 
to  acknowledge  the  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  par- 
liament, or  of  the  king  in  council,  in  the  administra- 
tion of  justice. 

To  hear  and  determine  these  and  other  offences 
of  less  magnitude,  and  at  the  same  time  to  'impress 
the  colonies  with  a  sense  of  their  own  impotence 
and  inferiority,  commissioners  were,  in  1664,  ap- 
pointed by  Charles  the  second  and  despatched,  with 
great  pomp  and  ceremony,  to  America.  These  re- 
presentatives of  the  crown  having  arrived  in  Boston, 
were  received  with  marks  of  sullen  displeasure. 
Public  business  was  suspended,  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  was  decreed  throughout  the  whole  pro- 
vince to  "  implore  the  mercy  of  heaven  under  their 


INTRODUCTION.  lxXXVli 

many  distractions  and  troubles."  The  general  court 
was  convened,  and  a  resolution  passed,  in  which 
it  was  declared,  "  that  they  would  bear  true  faith 
and  allegiance  to  his  majesty,  and  adhere  to  their 
patent,  which  they  had  obtained  so  dearly  and 
had  enjoyed  so  long  under  the  undoubted  rights  of 
God  and  man."  They  agreed  then  an  address  to  the 
crown,  in  which,  having  enumerated  their  privile- 
ges, the  apprehensions  they  entertained  of  danger 
to  their  liberties,  they  concluded  in  these  words, 
"  Let  our  government  live,  our  patent  live,  let  our 
magistrates  live,  so  shall  we  all  have  further  cause 
to  say  from  our  hearts,  let  the  king  live  forever." 

The  royal  judges,  with  a  pompous  exhibition  of 
authority,  proceeded  then  to  take  cognizance  of  such 
offences  as  appertained  to  their  office,  when  a  com- 
munication was  received  from  the  general  court,  in 
which  the  members  declared  that  although  this  inter- 
position of  the  royal  power  was  a  manifest  intrusion 
upon  the  independence  or  their  legislature,  the  re- 
presentatives of  their  sovereign  were  entitled  to  re- 
spect, and  should  receive  it;  but,  at  the  same  time, 
their  duty  to  their  fellow  subjects,  forbid  them  to 
yield  to  any  pretensions  incompatible  with  the  liberty 
and  dignity  of  their  province.  Discussions  ensued, 
and  the  proceedings  were  soon  involved  in  confusion. 


lxXXviii  INTRODUCTION. 

Seeing  the  futility  of  threats,  of  arguments,  and  af- 
fected moderation,  by  which  they  had  successively 
endeavoured  to  establish  their  authority,  the  commis- 
sioners attempted  at  length  a  practical  assertion  of  it. 
An  inquiry  was  instituted  against  the  governor  of 
the  province  and  his  associates,  and  the  parties  were 
summoned  to  appear  immediately  before  the  royal 
tribunal.  But  their  high  minded  antagonists,  disdain- 
ful of  this  insolent  exertion  of  arbitrary  power, 
caused  their  disapprobation  to  be  proclaimed  by  the 
sound  of  a  trumpet;  and  declared,  at  the  same  time, 
by  a  publick  manifesto,  "  that  in  duty  to  God,  to  their 
sovereign,  and  to  their  fellow  subjects,  they  were  re- 
solved to  resist  these  tyrannical  proceedings,  and  all 
who  should  countenance  or  abet  them/' 

The  commissioners  unable  to  effect  the  objects 
of  their  mission,  and  indignant  at  the  rude  opposition 
they  had  encountered,  returned  to  England,  with 
furious  threats  of  royal  vengeance  against  these  in- 
solent and  disobedient  subjects.  The  king,  when 
informed  of  these  transactions,  ordered  the  general 
court  to  send  agents  to  explain,  and  make  reparation 
of  their  offences;  which  summons,  by  affecting  to 
disbelieve  its  authenticity,  they  cunningly  evaded; 
and  by  a  succession  of  domestic  calamities,  the  pro- 
jects of  the  king  over  his  transatlantic  dominions 
were,  lor  some  years,  suspended. 


INTRODUCTION.  Ixxxix 

In  1676  the  charges  against  Massachusetts  were 
renewed  with  various  appendages  to  her  former 
transgressions.  A  quo  warranto  was  issued  against  her 
charter,  and  it  was  decreed  in  the  high  court  of 
chancery,  "  that  her  letters  patent  and  the  enrolment 
thereof  should  be  cancelled." — As  Charles  did  not 
survive  this  decree  but  a  short  period,  the  execution 
of  it  was  left  for  his  successor,  a  prince  of  a  more 
implacable  temper  and  no  less  hostile  to  the  liberties 
of  the  provinces.  But  a  short  time  was  necessary  to 
verify  the  gloomy  presages  that  had  been  formed  of  his 
administration.  To  humble  the  colonists  and  reduce 
them  to  an  entire  subjection  to  the  crown  appears  to 
have  been  among  the  most  favourite  projects  of  this 
monarch.  Commissioners  were  first  appointed  for 
the  execution  of  his  designs,  but  being  disapproved 
for  the  indulgence  and  lenity  of  their  measures,  were 
discontinued,  and  Sir  Edmond  Andros,  governor  of 
New  York,  a  personage  less  susceptible  of  tender 
impressions,  and  a  more  fit  and  obsequious  instru- 
ment of  a  tyrant,  was  substituted  in  their  place,  with 
the  magnificent  title  of  captain  general  and  vice  ad- 
miral of  the  province  of  New  England. 

This  infamous  viceroy,  with  no  less  Wuelty  and 
rapacity,  but  less  courage  than  Verres,  began  his 
administration  by  studied  indignities  offered  to  the 
colonial  legislatures,  by  restrictions  upon  commerce, 

VOL.  I.  M 


XC  INTRODUCTION. 

the  imposition  of  taxes,  and  many  rigorous  and  im- 
politic regulations.  The  government  of  Rhode  Island 
was  dissolved;  Connecticut  annexed  to  Massachu- 
setts, and  writs  were  issued  for  the  purpose  of  can- 
celling all  the  charters  that  yet  remained  in  validity, 
and  military  force  was  employed  to  resist  opposition. 
The  colonists  petitioned,  remonstrated,  threatened; 
and,  at  length,  weary  of  the  opprobrious  dominion 
of  this  frantic  and  domineering  satrap,  burst  into 
open  resistance.  The  people  by  a  simultaneous  im- 
pulse, throughout  the  whole  town  of  Boston,  rose  in 
arms.  The  drums  were  beaten  in  every  quarter. 
Boys,  with  clubs  in  their  hands,  were  seen  animating 
each  other  to  battle.  Old  men,  feeling  again  the  fires 
of  their  youth,  by  their  presence,  expressions,  ges- 
tures, encouraged  their  offspring  to  this  honorable 
rebellion.  The  governor  was  seized,  and,  with  fifty 
of  his  most  obnoxious  adherents,  imprisoned.  The 
administration  was  resumed  by  the  former  magis- 
trates, and  tranquillity  restored  to  the  province. 

The  British  government  had  asserted  in  1692,  her 
sovereignty  over  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  by  the 
usurped  nomination  of  their  governor;  but  in  leaving 
to  the  discretion  of  their  legislature  the  provision  of 
his  salary,  had  neglected  one  of  the  objects  most 
essential  to  the  strength  and  dignity  of  this  office. 
When  experience  had  discovered  the  effect  of  this 


INTRODUCTION.  XCl 

improvident  omission,  instructions  were  transmitted 
to  the  province,  requiring  that  an  adequate  and  per- 
manent support  should  be  affixed  to  the  charge  of 
the  governor,  of  the  judges  and  other  officers  of  the 
crown.  The  requisition  was  rejected,  and  a  contro- 
versy arose  from  this  provocation,  that  for  several 
years,  by  the  rancour  and  hostility  with  which  it  was 
sustained,  excluded  almost  every  other  object  of  le- 
gislation. As  the  history  of  this  contest  exhibits,  by 
a  very  pertinent  example,  the  temper  and  spirit  of  the 
colonists,  at  that  early  period,  the  suspicion  and  so- 
licitude with  which  they  watched  over  the  protection 
of  their  liberties,  the  details  of  it  are  not  unworthy 
of  being  treasured  in  the  memory  of  their  posterity. 

The  principles  of  good  government  require,  indeed, 
that  the  executive  and  judicial  offices,  especially  in 
popular  communites,  be  independent  of  the  legisla- 
tive; but,  in  these  subordinate  states,  remote  from 
the  immediate  influence  of  the  crown,  and  adminis- 
tered frequently  by  rapacious  governors,  without  a 
natural  connexion  of  interest  with  the  country,  a 
check  upon  their  authority  was  considered  a  neces- 
sary security  against  the  abuses  of  their  power,  and 
misapplication  of  the  public  money. 

The  first  representations  on  this  subject  were  made 
in  1721,  and  during  the  heat  of  other  altercations,  to 
the  house  of  representatives.    It  was  replied  by  that 


XC11  INTRODUCTION. 

assembly  "that  they  humbly  conceived  the  sum  grant- 
ed to  their  governor,  an  honorable  allowance,  and  the 
affair  of  settling  salaries  being  a  matter  of  great 
weight  and  wholly  new  to  the  house,  and  many  of 
their  members  being  absent,  they  did  not  think  it 
proper  to  enter  upon  the  consideration  of  it;  but  desi- 
red that  the  court  might  rise.  The  subject,  in  the 
succeeding  sessions,  was  urged  with  great  importu- 
nity, and  rejected  with  the  same  peremptory  disap- 
probation; and  the  discussion  soon  rose  to  such  a 
heat  of  animosity  as  to  preclude  all  hopes  of  conces- 
sion on  either  part.  The  governor,  to  obtain  a  deci- 
sion on  this  and  other  points  of  dissention,  went  over 
to  England.  His  pretensions  were  confirmed.  An 
explanatory  charter,  defining  explicitly  the  powers 
of  the  governor,  was  directed  to  the  general  court, 
with  an  intimation  at  the  same  time  that  on  refusal 
of  their  sanction,  the  whole  controversy  would  be 
submitted  to  the  investigation  of  parliament;  and  the 
result  would  be  the  entire  vacation  of  their  charter. 
On  meeting  the  assembly,  in  1728,  governor  Bur- 
net, who  was  now  for  the  first  time  appointed  to  that 
office,  submitted  the  king's  orders,  requiring  that  the 
support  of  the  executive  power  should  no  longer  de- 
pend upon  the  temporary  and  arbitrary  will  of  the 
legislature.  He  declared  also  his  resolution  to  adhere 
implicitly  to  the  letter  of  his  instructions.    After 


INTRODUCTION.  XClil 

deliberation,  the  house  resolved  that,  in  duty  to  their 
province  and  constituents,  they  could  not  consent  to 
this  invasion  of  their  privileges;  a  message  was  then 
sent  to  the  governor  declaring  the  motives  and  prin- 
ciples of  their  refusal,  and  requesting  that  the  court 
might  be  adjourned.  It  was  replied  that  a  recess 
could  not  be  granted  before  the  termination  of  the 
business  for  which  they  were  convened.  An  answer 
was  also  returned  by  the  governor,  detailing,  with 
much  asperity  of  language,  the  reasons  in  support  of 
his  pretentions.  He  repeated  his  determination  not 
to  deviate  from  his  instructions,  and  advised  the 
court  not  to  provoke,  from  the  vengeance  of  the 
British  government,  a  dissolution  of  their  charter. 
These  threats  and  admonitions  produced  only  from 
the  representatives,  a  renewal  of  their  former  decla- 
ration, not  to  recede  from  the  ground  they  had  as- 
sumed. A  statement  of  the  whole  controversy  was 
then  prepared  and  transmitted  throughout  the  several 
towns  of  the  province,  to  justify  their  non-compliance 
with  the  orders  of  the  king;  in  the  conclusion  of 
which  the  arguments  against  a  definite  salary  are 
recapitulated  as  follows: 

First,  because  it  is  an  untrodden  path  which  nei- 
ther we  nor  our  predecessors  have  gone  in,  and  we 
cannot  certainly  foresee  the  many  dangers  that  may 


XC1V  INTRODUCTION. 

be  in  it,  nor  can  we  depart  from  that  way  which  has 
been  found  safe  and  comfortable. 

Secondly,  because  it  is  the  undoubted  right  of  all 
Englishmen,  by  magna  charta,  to  raise  and  dispose 
of  money  for  the  public  service,  of  their  own  free 
accord,  without  compulsion. 

Thirdly,  because  it  must  necessarily  lessen  the  dig- 
nity and  freedom  of  the  house  of  representatives,  in 
making  acts  and  raising  and  applying  taxes,  and 
consequently  cannot  be  thought  a  proper  method  to 
preserve  that  balance  in  the  three  branches  of  the  le- 
gislature which  seems  necessary  to  form,  maintain, 
and  uphold  the  constitution. 

Fourthly,  because  the  charter  fully  empowers  the 
general  assembly  to  make  such  laws  as  they  shall 
judge  for  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  inhabitants;  and 
if  they,  or  any  part  of  them,  judge  this  not  to  be  for 
their  good,  they  neither  ought  nor  could  comply  with  it; 
for,  as  to  act  beyond  or  without  the  powers  granted  in 
the  charter  might  justly  incur  the  king's  displeasure, 
so  not  to  act  up  and  agreeably  to  those  powers,  might 
justly  be  deemed  a  betraying  of  the  rights  and  privi- 
leges therein  granted;  and  if  they  should  give  up  this 
right  they  would  open  a  door  to  many  other  inconve- 
niences. 

The  passions  excited  by  the  long  agitation  of  this 
contest,  had  now  spread  throughout  the  whole  pro- 


INTRODUCTION.  XCV 

vince.  A  general  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bos- 
ton, convened  for  that  purpose,  passed  a  vote  una- 
nimously, against  fixing  the  salary  of  the  governor. 
In  consequence  of  which  the  court  was  adjourned, 
to  meet  immediately  at  Salem,  where  their  delibe- 
rations, it  was  supposed,  would  be  less  influenced  by 
the  public  excitement.  But  the  members  of  this  as- 
sembly, who  possessed  within  themselves  the  prin- 
ciples of  action,  were  not  to  be  affected  by  a  change 
of  place  or  external  objects.  A  memorial  was  now 
prepared  by  them  to  the  king  stating  the  motives  of 
their  opposition,  and  praying  a  mitigation  of  the 
royal  orders.  Agents  were  appointed  to  bear  their 
despatches  and  represent  them  in  England.  The 
governor  refused  to  concur  in  the  vote  passed  to  de- 
fray their  expense.  It  was  furnished  by  subscription 
among  the  merchants  of  Boston.  A  report  of  the 
board  of  trade,  in  disapprobation  of  their  measures, 
was,  soon  afterwards,  transmitted  to  the  court  from 
these  agents,  with  the  assurance  at  the  same  time 
that  by  a  farther  opposition  to  the  king's  orders,  the 
affair  would,  no  doubt,  be  carried  before  parliament. 
But,  "  it  is  better/'  they  added,  "  that  the  liberties 
of  the  people  be  taken  from  them  than  given  up  by 
themselves." 

Propositions  continued  to  be  made  alternately  by 
each  party  and  rejected.    In  every  message  of  the 


XCV1  INTRODUCTION. 

colonists  their  usual  resolution  was  repeated;  not  to 
renounce  the  venerable  privileges  of  their  ancestors, 
or  depart  from  the  sacred  authority  of  the  charter. 
The  governor,  at  length,  wearied  of  fruitless  expedi- 
ents, and  despairing  of  success,  consented  with  the 
approbation  of  the  crown,  to  receive  the  discretiona- 
ry sum  offered  by  the  assembly,  reserving  the  right 
to  insist,  in  future,  upon  their  compliance  with  the 
king's  instructions.  This  approach  to  an  accommo- 
dation was  cheerfully  hailed  by  the  court,  and  the 
controversy  was  not  afterwards  renewed  until  the 
period  of  the  revolution. 

These  prelusive  contests  for  freedom  in  America 
are  indeed  humble,  but  they  are  precious  monuments 
of  our  national  glory.  To  our  ancestors  they  are  im- 
perishable titles  to  veneration;  and  atford,  at  the 
same  time,  to  their  descendants,  a  solemn  and  salu- 
tary admonition.  Whilst  the  sacred  spirit  which 
ftnpelled  them  to  action  shall  subsist  unextinguished 
among  the  mass  of  mankind,  shall  enlighten  the  in- 
telligence and  animate  the  hearts  of  their  statesmen, 
the  projects  of  ambition  shall  have  bounds,  and  the 
tyrant  shall  sit  uneasy  upon  his  throne. 

II.  The  executive  and  judiciary  institutions  of 
America,  no  less  than  the  legislative,  were  involved 
in  intricacy  and  confusion.  To  the  governors  were 
delegated,  by  the  crown,  the  erection  of  courts  and 


INTRODUCTION.  XCVU 

the  appointment  of  the  judges.  The  former  of  these 
privileges  was  contested,  and  being  claimed  as  the 
prerogative  of  the  provincial  legislatures,  was  the 
source  of  perpetual  dissension.  The  common  law  of 
England,  with  such  statutes  as  preceded  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  colonies,  constituted  the  basis  of  their 
jurisprudence;  but  the  extent  of  the  application  of 
these  laws  and  customs,  not  being  determined  with 
precision,  and  being  variously  modified  by  the  colo- 
nial courts,  which  were  distinct  and  independent  of 
each  other,  rendered  the  judicial  proceedings  intri- 
cate, capricious  and  uncertain.  No  courts  of  equity 
or  appeal  afforded  redress  to  the  subject  against  ini- 
quitous decisions,  or  reconciled  the  discordant  prin- 
ciples which  impeded  the  administration  of  justice. 
The  powers  of  chancery  were,  in  some  instances, 
vested  in  the  governors,  who  being  seldom  trained 
to  the  profession  of  the  law,  were  incompetent  to  that 
high  office.  An  appeal  lay  in  all  cases  to  the  par- 
liament, or  to  the  king  in  council,  which  was  dis- 
claimed in  the  colonies,  from  its  inconvenience  and 
incompatibility  with  the  liberties  of  the  people.  The 
modes  of  procedure  and  formalities  of  pleading 
were  modelled  upon  those  of  the  mother  country.  The 
colonists  appear,  however,  to  have  pursued,  with  no 
servile  imitation,  the  practice  of  the  English  courts, 

and  to  have  reverenced  the  authority  of  English 
vol.  I.  N 


XCV111  INTRODUCTION. 

jurisconsults  with  a  less  implicit  devotion,  than  has 
been  manifested  by  their  successors  since  the  era 
of  their  independence. 

III.  The  colonies  being  broken  into  small  and 
separate  communities,  over  an  immense  surface  of 
territory,  their  disconnected  force  was  of  conse- 
quence inadequate  to  any  extensive  military  opera- 
tions. Their  early  struggles  against  the  natives  of  the 
country  were  almost  confined  to  individual  exertion; 
and  of  these  the  mother  country  was,  for  the  most 
part,  an  indifferent  spectator.  No  common  principle 
of  union,  except  in  the  contiguous  provinces  of  New 
England,  subsisted  among  them.  A  dissociable 
temper,  was  originally  favoured  by  the  difficulty  of 
communication,  and  by  religious  antipathies,  and 
after  the  diminution  of  these  causes,  was  studiously 
fomented  by  Great  Britain,  as  the  surest  means  by 
which  she  might  retain  these  remote  subjects  in  a 
pacific  subordination  to  her  interest  and  will.  It  does 
not  comport  with  the  policy  of  metropolitan  govern- 
ments to  inspire  into  their  colonial  subjects  a  spirit 
of  military  ambition.  To  retain  man  in  ignorance  of 
his  strength,  as  well  as  of  his  rights,  is  essential  to 
his  subjection. 

The  supreme  military  command  was  delegated  by 
the  king  to  the  royal  governors,  who  became  the  ob- 
sequious instruments  of  his  designs,  and  were  sus- 


INTRODUCTION.  XC1X 

pended  or  recalled  when  they  ceased  to  be  so.  These 
men  were  generally  unskilled  in  war,  were  regarded 
with  little  affection  by  the  colonists,  and  feeling 
themselves  but  slender  attachments  for  a  people 
among  whom  their  residence  was  temporary,  no 
important  enterprize  was  attempted,  no  military  sub- 
ordination, no  regular  system  of  operations  was  es- 
tablished; and  the  undisciplined  valour  of  the  inhabi- 
tants, at  least  sufficient,  under  a  discreet  guidance, 
for  their  security,  was,  for  the  most  part,  dissipated 
in  turbulence  or  lost  in  fruitless  impetuosity. 

When  the  French  power  had  grown  around  them 
to  a  dangerous  magnitude,  and  threatened  not  only 
the  peace  and  safety  of  the  inhabitants,  but  the  ex- 
istence of  the  British  possessions,  these  evils  were 
then  felt.  As  a  remedy,  it  was  proposed,  in  America, 
to  give  concert  and  stability  to  their  operations,  by  a 
general  confederacy  of  the  states.  This  scheme  was 
rejected  in  England  from  a  fear  that  it  might  furnish 
a  principle  of  association  among  the  colonists,  danger- 
ous to  the  sovereignty  of  the  mother  country.  The 
expedient  preferred,  was  the  appointment  of  a  milita- 
ry commander  in  chief,  with  a  dictatorial  power  over 
all  the  other  authorities  already  granted  by  the  crown. 
This  reason  was  considered,  on  the  one  side,  as  a  da- 
ring encroachment  upon  the  liberties  of  the  province, 
and   produced  much   discord   and   embarrassment 


C  INTRODUCTION. 

amidst  the  most  important  operations.    On  the  other 
side,  apprehensions  were  entertained  that  an  accom- 
plished and  popular  chief,  invested  with  powers  so 
extensive,  so  remote  from  the  sphere  of  control,  might 
accelerate  an  event  they  were  solicitous  of  preventing. 
Men  were  therefore  selected  for  this  dictatorship, 
who  were  not  preeminent  for  ambition,  for  gallantry 
of  enterprize  or  military  skill.  From  governor  Shirly 
the  high  dignity  was  soon  transferred  to  general 
Abercrombie,  and  at  length  rested  with  entire  safety 
upon  lord  Loudon.     This  nobleman,  by  a  tardy,  im- 
potent and  arrogant  administration,  fomented  the 
preexisting  dissentions,  protracted  the  war,  and  either 
overturned  the  well  concerted  schemes  of  the  pro- 
vincial officers,  or  obstructed  the  execution  of  them. 
Thus  circumscribed  in  their  operations,  and  des- 
titute of  the  funds  requisite  for  defraying  the  expense 
of  any  considerable  enterprize,  the  military  concerns 
of  the  colonists,  more  than  those  of  other  countries, 
are  barren  of  instruction  or  amusement.    Splendid 
victories,  magnificent  scenes  of  desolation  and  admi- 
rable discipline  are  to  be  found  only  in  those  exten- 
sive empires,  where  war  and  havoc  have  become  the 
trade  of  ambition,  and  where  mighty  armies  are  nou- 
rished from  the  dregs  of  a  superfluous  and  vitiated 
population. 


INTRODUCTION.  CI 

IV.  The  principles  upon  which  the  commerce  of 
the  American  states  was  established,  required  that 
the  entire  profits  of  their  trade  should  center  in 
Great  Britain.  The  produce  of  their  culture,  stock, 
the  rude  materials  and  natural  productions  of  their 
territories  were  exported  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of 
British  trade  and  manufactures;  and  from  the  mo- 
ther country  alone,  or  at  her  discretion  were  they  per- 
mitted to  derive  the  necessaries  of  life.  Such  enu- 
merated commodities  as  were  superfluous  in  the 
British  market,  they  were  allowed  to  export  to  foreign 
nations,  south  of  Cape  Finisterre,  that  the  proceeds 
of  this  circuitous  traffic  might  enable  them  to  ex- 
tinguish their  debt,  and  increase  their  importation  of 
English  manufactures. 

Notwithstanding  the  restrictions  with  which  the 
colonial  commerce  was  fettered  by  a  tyrannical  sys- 
tem of  monopoly,  it  had  acquired  at  the  revolution, 
much  vigour  and  activity.  To  Great  Britain  it  was 
a  source  of  opulence  and  power,  and  the  native 
Americans  had  acquired  among  foreign  nations,  for 
commercial  enterprize  and  intrepidity,  an  honorable 
fame.  New  England,  from  the  position  and  nature  of 
her  territory,  was  especially  devoted  to  commerce; 
and  amidst  the  cold  and  boisterous  waves  of  the 
north,  had  nursed,  for  the  service  of  her  country,  a 
bold  and  resolute  race  of  seamen.  "  There  is  no  sea/1 


Cll  INTRODUCTION. 

says  Burke,  "  but  what  is  vexed  by  her  fisheries,  no 
climate  that  is  not  witness  to  her  toils.  Neither  the 
perseverance  of  Holland,  nor  the  activity  of  France, 
nor  the  dexterous  and  firm  sagacity  of  English  en- 
terprise, ever  carried  this  perilous  mode  of  hardy 
industry  to  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  pushed 
by  this  recent  people,  who  are  still,  as  it  were,  in 
the  gristle,  and  not  yet  hardened  into  the  bone  of 
manhood." 

In  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the 
export  trade  of  Great  Britain  to  her  American  co- 
lonies, was  computed  at  three  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  pounds  sterling;  it  had  reached,  in  the  year 
preceding  the  revolution,  the  amount  of  three  and  a 
half  millions.  At  the  latter  period,  the  importation 
into  Great  Britain  of  colonial  produce  was  estimated 
at  one  million  and  a  half.  The  balance  in  favour  of 
England  was  liquidated,  though  with  much  exertion 
and  difficulty,  by  the  colonists,  from  the  proceeds  of 
their  circuitous  commerce,  and  by  the  occasional 
relaxation,  or  evasion  of  the  navigation  act.  Two 
millions  remained  in  arrears  at  the  commencement 
of  the  revolutionary  war. 

V.  The  colonists  possessed  no  domestic  means  for 
the  supply  of  gold  and  silver  coin.  The  small  quan- 
tities derived  from  foreign  countries  by  their  limited 
commerce,  were  almost  wholly  employed  in  the  ex- 


INTRODUCTION.  CM 

tinction  of  their  debt  with  Great  Britain.  The  rapid 
growth  of  their  settlements  required  an  extension  of 
their  circulating  medium.  It  created,  at  the  same 
time,  an  additional  importation  of  English  manufac- 
tures, and  aggravated  their  deficiency  in  the  balance 
of  trade.  A  paper  currency  was  therefore  deemed 
indispensible  in  the  economy  of  their  government, 
as  a  compensation  for  the  inadequate  supplies  of 
specie;  nor  was  this  policy  disapproved  by  the 
mother  country  under  proper  regulations,  as  it  ne- 
cessarily converted  what  remained  among  them  of 
solid  money  into  the  channel  of  the  British  market, 
A  prevailing  calamity  of  our  forefathers,  if  it  was 
one,  and  at  which  they  murmured  with  loudest  im- 
portunity against  heaven,  was  the  want  of  gold. 

This  paper  money,  in  its  usual  form,  was  emitted 
by  their  legislators,  in  promissory  notes,  and  was 
redeemed  by  a  tax,  at  a  period  prescribed  by  the 
law.  The  legislators  of  Pennsylvania  erected,  in 
1739,  a  loan  office,  and  profitting,  as  it  is  said,  by 
the  follies  of  their  compatriots,  administered  it  by 
discreet  and  prudent  regulations.  By  limiting  the 
loan  of  each  individual,  they  gave  to  the  benefits  of 
the  institution  a  diffusive  influence,  and  prevented 
partial  accumulations  of  wealth.  Accommodations 
were  afforded  to  the  borrower,  by  protracted  terms 
of  payment,  and  easy  interest,  which  was  employed  in 


CIV  INTRODUCTION. 

objects  of  public  utility.  Recent  emigrants,  or  poor 
persons  were  enabled  by  these  facilities  to  purchase 
moderate  estates,  and  prosecute  their  settlements, 
whilst  they  were  restrained,  at  the  same  time,  from 
extravagant  or  ruinous  speculations.  By  giving  to 
the  funds  of  this  institution  a  positive  security,  by  con- 
fining the  quantity  of  its  emissions,  and  extending 
its  uses,  by  maintaining,  as  far  as  the  nature  of  such 
money  will  admit,  its  parity  with  the  silver  in  circu-, 
lation,  the  spirit  of  honest  industry  was  invigorated; 
lands,  commodities  and  labour  bore  that  mediocrity  of 
price  which  tends  most  to  enrich,  and  to  promote  the 
permanent  welfare  of  the  community,  which,  to  be 
vigorous  and  healthy,  must  neither  be  depressed  by 
inanition,  nor  exalted  by  artificial  excitement.  In  a 
review  of  this  institution,  by  the  assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania in  1752,  it  was  declared  to  be  a  principal 
agent  in  promoting  the  increase  of  the  population 
and  prosperity  of  the  province. 

In  the  colonies  of  New  England  and  Carolina, 
where  the  manufacture  of  this  money  first  origina- 
ted, it  was  prosecuted  with  a  more  licentious  indul- 
gence. In  Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  especial- 
ly, where  the  habits  of  the  people  were  commercial, 
a  rage  for  paper  money  pervaded  every  order  of 
society,  with  an  avidity  so  ravenous  and  insatiate, 
that  all  the  efforts  of  enlightened  individuals,  and  the 


INTRODUCTION.  CV 

conflicting  experience  of  half  a  century  could  scarce- 
ly mitigate  or  control  it. 

An  immoderate  quantity  of  this  money  was  first 
thrown  into  circulation  in  New  England,  for  defray- 
ing the  expenses  of  the  Canadian  war,  which  prece- 
ded the  peace  of  Utrecht.  Gold  and  silver  disap- 
peared, paper  depreciated,  speculation  ruined  and 
enriched  individuals,  demoralized  and  disquieted  the 
community;  industry  languished,  and  the  people  in 
bitter  exclamations  bewailed  the  misery  of  the  times. 
Soon,  however,  expedients  were  devised  for  the  re- 
lief of  these  calamities,  and  the  resurrection  of  trade; 
and  magnificent  projects  of  numerous  statesmen  were 
conceived  to  sustain,  and  embellish  the  baseless  fa- 
bric of  their  follies.  Among  the  parties  produced,  in 
the  agitation  of  this  subject,  "  the  first  a  small  one, 
actuated  by  the  principle  which  always  ought  to 
govern,  that  honesty  is  the  best  policy,  were  in  favour 
of  calling  in  the  paper  money  and  relying  on  the  in- 
dustry of  the  people  to  replace  it  by  a  circulating 
medium  of  greater  stability."*  The  scheme  which 
prevailed  was  the  establishment  of  a  bank,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts.  Fifty 
thousand  pounds  were  issued  in  bills  of  credit  for 
ii\e  years,  and  trustees  appointed  to  the  superinten- 

*  Marshal. 
VOL.  I.  O 


CV1  INTRODUCTION. 

deuce  of  the  institution.     The  distress  continued, 
nevertheless,  with  symptoms  of  aggravation;  and  still 
the  inhabitants  murmured  at  the  dispensations  of 
providence.      The  governor,    then,   recommended 
some  more  effectual  measures  to  supply  the  poverty 
of  money  and  reanimate  commerce.   A  second  loan 
was,  therefore,  resolved  upon.     One  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  were  now  voted  by  the  legislature  for 
ten  years.     This  sum,  entrusted  to  commissioners, 
was  distributed,  in  branches,  throughout  the  whole 
province.     The  remedy  again  proved  inadequate; 
and  to  mitigate  the  paroxysms  of  a  distemper  so 
stubborn  and  immedicable,  it  was  proposed  to  in- 
crease once  more  the  causes  of  the  excitement.  But 
a  further  emission  of  bills  of  credit  were  prohibited 
in  this  province,  by  a  salutary  interposition  of  the 
crown. 

Connecticut,  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of  agricul- 
ture, was  exempt,  in  a  great  measure,  from  the 
pressure  of  these  calamities.  The  spirit  of  specula- 
tion had  not  violated  the  peace  of  the  cottage,  or  in- 
terrupted the  repose  of  the  husbandman.  Rhode 
Island,  no  less  commercial  than  Massachusetts, 
choosing  her  own  governor,  and  therefore  not  sub- 
ject to  similar  prohibitions  from  Great  Britain,  is- 
sued, as  a  loan  to  her  inhabitants,  one  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  The  merchants  of  Boston,  from  a  fear 


INTRODUCTION.  CV11 

that  this  splendid  capital  might  divert  from  their  city 
the  current  of  trade,  now  emitted  upon  the  credit  of 
their  own  funds,  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  with  a 
pernicious  emulation  proceeded  to  the  erection  of  a 
private  bank.     This  institution,  as  the  loans  were 
secured  by  mortgage  upon  real  estate,  was  dignified 
with  the  name  of  the  land  bank.  To  give  it,  at  least, 
the  virtual  sanction  and  authority  of  government,  the 
principal  subscribers  were  elected  members  of  the 
general  court.     The  directors  themselves,  it  is  said, 
mingled  in  the  iniquities  of  speculation,  and  issued  bills 
without  limitation  or  security  for  their  redemption. 
But  the  extravagance  had  now  reached  its  maturity. 
By  application  to  parliament  the  company  was  dis- 
solved, and  the  rage  of  that  folly  which  had  disqui- 
eted, corrupted  and  embroiled  these  provinces  for 
half  a  century,  ceased  at  length.     The  people  were 
at  last  taught  by  the  rude  lessons  of  experience, 
that  money  does  not  constitute  the  wealth  and  pros- 
perity of  a  state;  that  the  immoderate  increase  of 
their  currency,  had  exalted  the  rate  of  exchange, 
and  the  price  of  commodities  5  had  impaired  public 
credit,  discouraged  the  payment  of  debts,  and  sub- 
stituted cunning,  speculation  and  inhumanity  instead 
of  the  pursuits  of  a  regular  and  honorable  industry. 

At  the  height  of  their  pecuniary  distresses  a  sum  of 
money,  in  specie,  was  voted  to  the  colonies  by  the 


CV111  INTRODUCTION. 

British  parliament  as  a  reimbursement  for  their  ex- 
penses of  the  late  war;  and  with  this  it  was  proposed 
to  redeem,  at  its  depreciated  value,  the  paper  in  cir- 
culation. The  measure  was  resisted,  for  a  while,  with 
violent  opposition.  Apprehensions  were  entertained 
that  a  reduction  so  vast  and  so  sudden,  of  the  circu- 
lating medium,  would  injure  the  trade  and  industry 
of  the  province.  This  alarm  was  found,  on  experi- 
ment, to  be  chimerical.  Specie  immediately  took  the 
place  of  paper.  Trade,  so  far  from  sustaining  a  shock, 
flourished  more  than  before  this  change;  and  the  com- 
merce of  Massachusetts  immediately  received  an  im- 
pulse, greater  than  was  given  to  that  of  her  neigh- 
bours, who  retained  their  paper  medium* 

The  inhabitants  of  Carolina  indulged  no  less  wan- 
tonly than  those  of  New  England,  in  these  specious 
hopes  of  fortune;  and  passed  through  the  same  series 
of  projects  and  sustained  the  same  calamities  in  the 
fruitless  search  of  it.  On  this  subject,  which  is  ac- 
knowledged to  be  of  no  ordinary  magnitude  in  the  in- 
terests and  happiness  of  a  nation,  the  colonists  almost 
universally  exhibited  a  profligate  levity  of  attention  or 
an  ignorance  of  their  true  policy,  directly  opposed  to 
that  prudence  and  sagacity  for  which  they  were 
distinguished  in  the  other  concerns  of  the  administra 
'  Marshal. 


INTRODUCTION.  C1X 

tion.  But  the  follies  of  our  own  times  do  not  permit 
us  to  dwell  censoriously  upon  those  of  our  forefathers, 
and  the  same  fatal  indocility  of  human  nature  will  no 
doubt  rescue  us,  in  our  turn,  from  the  animadversions 
of  posterity. 


CHAPTER  III. 

Of  the  wars  which  preceded  the  Revolution. 

When  Great  Britain,  by  an  accumulation  of  inju- 
ries and  indignities,  had  impelled  her  American  sub- 
jects to  rebellion,  and  led  her  hostile  armies  across 
the  Atlantic,  men  of  distinguished  military  virtues 
suddenly  appeared  upon  the  scene  of  action.  From 
the  obscurity  of  a  province,  that  was  as  yet  unno- 
ticed by  the  eye  of  mankind,  they  came  forth  to  en- 
counter, in  the  plenitude  of  her  wrath  and  ambition, 
the  forces  of  a  mighty  empire,  consolidated  by  ages, 
and  covered  by  the  monuments  of  her  victories.  By 
the  valour  and  magnanimity  with  which  they  resisted 
the  contentious  waves  of  this  rude  opposition,  they 
extorted  the  admiration  of  their  enemy,  and  in  the 
memory  of  all  nations,  established,  as  accomplished 
officers  and  intrepid  soldiers,  a  splendid  and  imper- 
ishable fame. 

It  becomes,  therefore,  an  object  of  interest,  to  an 
American  especially,  to  look  back  upon  those  previ- 
ous scenes  in  which  his  ancestors  were  trained  for  the 


CX11  INTRODUCTION. 

achievements  of  that  memorable  period.  For  the 
preeminent  talents  and  sacred  spirit  of  freedom, 
which  conducted  them  through  the  fierce  struggles 
they  encountered  in  the  vindication  of  their  indepen- 
dence, were  not  of  sudden  or  extemporaneous  pro- 
duction. The  qualities  of  the  heart,  like  the  strength 
of  the  body,  are  matured  by  time,  invigorated  by  ex- 
ercise, and  sustained  by  salutary  nutrition;  and  the 
moral  as  well  as  the  physical  excellence  of  man  de- 
pends upon  the  constitutional  virtues  of  his  progeni- 
tors. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  nation  upon  the  earth,  that 
has  been  nursed  through  its  infancy,  in  a  more  stern 
and  rugged  adversity;  none  that  has  sustained  its  ex- 
istence under  the  pressure  of  more  formidable  dan- 
gers, and  approached  more  frequently  or  more  nearly 
to  the  brink  of  irrevocable  ruin.  The  colonists,  during 
the  progress  of  their  settlements,  were  exposed  to  al 
most  continued  hostilities,  and  even  their  short  inter- 
vals of  peace  were  interrupted  by  the  most  tragical 
scenes  of  distress,  and  perpetual  apprehensions  of 
war.  They  were  placed  amidst  a  race  of  barbarians 
whose  ferocity  not  only  exceeded  the  example  of  past 
ages,  but  whatever  in  romance,  the  imagination  of 
man  had  conceived;  and  throughout  the  vast  surface 
ot  those  fertile  provinces,  from  which  their  posterity 
now  gather  the  rich  fruits  of  abundance,  there  is  per- 


INTRODUCTION.  CX1U 

haps  no  field  of  cultivated  soil  that  has  not  been  con- 
secrated by  the  blood  of  its  original  possessor. 

War,  in  its  mildest  aspect,  is  distinguished  by 
deeds  of  atrocity  which  confound  the  sober  reason, 
and  degrade  the  character  of  mankind;  and  it  seems 
to  have  been  reserved  for  the  new  world,  to  exhibit 
this  evil  in  its  most  hideous  and  disgusting  enormity. 
All  those  salutary  restraints,  which  mutual  fear,  in- 
terest or  humanity  had  devised,  among  civilized  na- 
tions, to  mitigate  the  calamities  or  horrors  of  it,  have, 
in  this  distant  continent,  as  if  removed  from  the  eye 
of  heaven  and  the  observation  of  man,  been  thrown 
off  or  disregarded;  and  nations  professing  the  mild 
charities  of  the  christian  religion,  boasting  their  pre- 
eminence in  literature,  in  reason,  and  virtue,  have, 
for  the  petty  interests  of  a  province,  associated  in 
the  havoc  of  war,  with  the  ruthless  and  sanguinary 
barbarian;  not  to  sooth,  but  exasperate  his  native 
fierceness,  and  by  his  instrumentality  or  coopera- 
tion, to  perpetrate  those  deeds  of  cruelty  which,  for 
the  honor  of  human  nature,  should  be  hushed  in  si- 
lence, or  buried  in  eternal  oblivion. 

The  desultory  and  petty  warfare  carried  on  against 

the  natives  of  the  country,  although  more  calamitous 

and  afflicting  than  the  operations  of  disciplined  troops 

is  nevertheless  destitute  of  that  interest,  variety  and 

succession  of  incidents  which  animate  the  narrations 
vol.  i.  r 


Cxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

of  the  historian.  From  the  early  settlements  of  the 
provinces  we  have  an  undi versified  exhibition  of  vil- 
lages in  flames,  and  the  promiscuous  murder  of  their 
inhabitants;  accompanied  by  whatever  is  terrific  in 
the  records  of  individual  distress;  the  screaming  in- 
fant mangled  on  the  bosom  of  its  mother;  the  hus- 
bandman, amidst  the  harvest  of  his  labour;  and  his 
bones  bleach  upon  the  field  his  hands  had  cultivated. 
Here,  the  trembling  victim  is  borne  into  captivity, 
that,  from  the  studied  ingenuity  of  his  executioner, 
he  may  undergo  more  excruciating  and  exquisite  tor- 
tures. Elsewhere,  the  collected  savages  surround  the 
solitary  cottage,  and  the  father  dies,  in  defence  of  his 
supplicating  offspring,  by  the  hand  of  the  inexorable 
assassin. 

The  details  of  these  depredations  and  murders  are 
not  only  uninstructive  and  disgusting,  but  volumes 
are  insufficient  for  the  enumeration  of  them.  The 
savages  acquired,  however,  on  some  occasions,  by 
the  junction  of  their  tribes,  the  more  vigorous  move- 
ments of  regular  armies.  The  first  acts  of  hostility, 
which  appear  worthy  of  the  denomination  of  war, 
are  those  of  Virginia,  in  1 622,  in  the  infancy  of  that 
province.  These  were  commenced  on  the  part  of 
the  Indians,  in  a  moment  of  apparent  security,  by  a 
simultaneous  massacre  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  of 
the  inhabitants.  Of  eighty  settlements,  eight  only 
resisted  the  violence  of  the  conflict.     The  enemy, 


INTRODUCTION.  CXV 

however,  atoned  for  their  perfidy  by  the  loss  of  their 
principal  warriors,  and  the  expulsion  of  those  who 
remained,  from  their  native  possessions. 

In  New  England,  a  very  formidable  combination 
was  formed,  in  1637,  by  the  Piquods,  one  of  the  most 
warlike  and  hostile  tribes  of  the  north.  Their  first 
incursions  were  directed  against  the  settlements  of 
Connecticut,  and  were  repulsed  with  a  courage  that 
reflects  a  high  honor  upon  the  military  spirit  of  that 
province.  But  the  extremity  of  the  danger  to  which 
they  had  been  exposed,  and  the  calamities  they  had 
suffered,  induced  them  to  abuse  their  superiority,  and 
inflict  too  rude  a  vengeance  upon  the  aggressors. 
Their  victory  was  sullied  by  acts  of  cruelty  towards 
the  Indians,  and  the  war  was  terminated  by  the  en- 
tire extinction  of  their  tribe. 

But,  in  the  course  of  these  Indian  hostilities,  that 
which  is  denominated  Philips  war,  of  1675,  is  the 
most  important  and  conspicuous;  both  for  the  enor- 
mity of  the  danger,  and  the  obstinate  courage  dis- 
played in  the  prosecution  of  it.  Philip,  the  instigator 
of  this  war,  was  the  son  of  Massassoet,  who  ruled  a 
powerful  tribe  upon  the  shores  of  the  bay  of  Massa- 
chusetts. This  bold  and  accomplished  chief,  anima- 
ted by  the  ambition  of  recovering  his  native  territo- 
ries, had  prepared  in  secret,  and  brought  into  the 
field  an  army  of  four  thousand  warriors.  The  sudden 


CXVi  INTRODUCTION. 

impetuosity  of  his  incursions,  spread  terror  and  de- 
vastation throughout  the  settlements  of  New  Eng- 
land, and  threatened  them  with  total  ruin.  He  had 
furnished  his  associates,  by  ingenious  expedients, 
with  arms;  he  established  among  them  a  regularity 
of  discipline,  and  conducted  his  enterprizes  with  a 
prudence  and  dexterity  to  which  the  wild  spirit  of 
the  savage  was,  till  then,  thought  unequal.  Many 
sanguinary  battles  were  fought,  and  six  hundred  of 
the  flower  and  strength  of  these  provinces,  whose 
lives  and  occupations  were  precious  to  the  prospe- 
rity of  their  country,  perished  in  the  field.  The  cul- 
tivation of  the  earth  and  the  activities  of  commerce, 
ceased.  Flourishing  towns  were  reduced  to  ashes. 
Settlements  were  desolate;  and  the  labours  of  half  a 
century  were  buried,  in  the  short  space  of  a  year, 
amidst  the  ravages  of  war.  But  the  impetuous  valour 
of  the  savage  yielded  at  length  to  the  steady  courage 
and  perseverance  of  the  colonists;  and  Philip,  the 
author  of  their  calamities,  having  prosecuted  his  de- 
signs to  the  last  ruin  of  his  tribe,  and  the  extinction 
of  his  adherents,  with  all  the  illustrious  merits,  and 
without  the  reputation  of  a  hero,  fell  by  the  hands 
of  an  assassin. 

Tne  colonies  of  the  south,  of  more  recent  origin, 
of  less  numerical  strength  and  stability  of  govern- 
ment, were  persecuted  by  these  fierce  barbarians 


INTRODUCTION.  CXV11 

with  no  less  rigorous  hostility.  Various  tribes  of 
tripple  their  number,  distinguished  for  a  superior 
ferocity  and  martial  spirit,  and  often  exasperated 
beyond  their  natural  animosity  by  the  instigation  of 
the  Spaniards,  waged  an  eternal  war  against  them; 
accompanied  by  the  most  horrible  devastations.  The 
first  acts  of  aggression,  which  are  preeminent  for 
atrocity,  were  undertaken,  in  1712,  by  the  Tusca- 
roras,  a  powerful  tribe  of  North  Carolina.  This  war, 
which  was  commenced  without  any  previous  indica- 
tion, by  the  massacre,  in  a  single  night,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven  of  the  inhabitants,  was  prose- 
cuted with  much  fury  and  bloodshed,  and  appeased 
only  by  the  entire  extermination  of  the  enemy.  It 
was,  however,  but  the  prelude  of  a  more  sanguinary 
conflict,  which  three  years  afterwards  was  main- 
tained against  the  fierce  warriors  of  the  Yamas- 
sees.  The  forces  of  this  nation,  with  that  of  their 
confederates,  which  appeared  on  this  occasion  on 
the  field,  amounted  to  six  thousand  warriors.  The 
whole  province,  except  Charleston,  into  which  the 
fugitive  inhabitants  had  fled  for  safety,  became  a 
scene  of  desolation,  and  the  destructive  torrent  had 
already  approached  to  the  vicinity  of  that  town.  The 
colonists,  in  this  desperate  extremity,  marched  out 
to  battle,  and,  with  twelve  hundred  men,  the  whole 
force  of  the  province,  defeated  their  antagonists,  in 


CXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

an  obstinate  and  bloody  engagement;  drove  them  be- 
yond the  confines  of  the  settlement;  stript  them  of 
their  native   territories,    and  pursued  them   with 
slaughter  to  the  inaccessible  deserts  of  the  south. 
They  were  received  with  hospitality  by  the  Span- 
iards of  St.  Augustin,  and  continued,  for  many  years, 
to  ravage  the  frontiers  of  the  English  with  implacable 
and  unintermitted  vengeance.  The  Carolinians  twice 
encountered,  in  addition  to  these  Indian  hostilities, 
a  formidable  invasion  from  Florida,  and  twice  led 
their  armies  to  the  capital  of  that  province.     They 
sustained,  likewise,  a  domestic  warfare  against  the 
animosities  of  faction,  the  rapacity  of  their  gover- 
nors, and  the  insurrection  of  their  slaves.     Their 
fields  were  cultivated,  their  harvests  were  collected, 
and  even  their  public  devotions  were  offered  to  hea- 
ven, under  arms.  We  shall  rarely  find  the  example  of 
a  people  who  were  more  prodigal  of  their  blood,  or 
who  have  been  allotted  by  providence  fewer  intervals 
for  the  enjoyment  of  security  and  repose. 

These  are  the  principal  military  occurrences  ante- 
rior to  the  year  1692,  and  which  proceeded  from 
the  natives  for  the  most  part,  without  foreign  aid  or 
instigation.  The  wars  against  Canada  became,  at  this 
period,  the  grand  object  in  which  all  other  operations 
were  immerged.  The  events  which  first  kindled  the 
flames  of  this  contest  were  connected  with  the  poli- 


INTRODUCTION.  CX1X 

tics  of  Europe  only;  it  was  however  undertaken  with 
zeal  and  carried  on  in  America,  with  the  most  furious 
animosity. 

The  people  of  New  England  who  were  contigu- 
ous to  the  settlements  of  the  French,  had  long  viewed 
their  progress  with  concern,  and  rejoiced  at  whatever 
accident  might  furnish  them  the  occasion  or  means 
to  arrest  it.  From  the  extensive  influence  which 
the  French  had  acquired,  by  their  situation  and  in- 
sinuating policy,  over  the  native  inhabitants  of  the 
country,  rendered  their  proximity  the  more  danger- 
ous; and  their  entire  expulsion  from  America  was 
regarded  by  the  English  colonists  as  essential  to  the 
peace  of  their  dominions.  Religious  rancour,  also, 
which  long  and  rigorous  persecution  had  rendered 
outrageous  and  implacable,  embittered  their  hostile 
spirit,  and  completed  the  extinction  of  all  those  social 
feelings  and  charities  that  otherwise  characterize 
these  nations,  and  effaced  from  their  hearts  the  im- 
pressions of  humanity. 

The  murder  of  a  heretic  was,  in  those  days  of  su- 
perstition, perpetrated  without  criminality  or  com- 
punction. Popery  and  iniquity  were  identified,  and 
the  massacre  of  a  Frenchman  was  regarded  by  many 
a  pious  protestant  as  a  most  grateful  sacrifice  to 
propitiate  the  favour  of  heaven.  If,  to  these  causes 
of  excitement,  we  add  the  national  antipathies  that 


INTRODUCTION. 

subsisted  between  English  and  Frenchmen,  perpe- 
tuated and  confirmed  by  the  tradition  of  ages,  the 
zeal  with  which  loyalty  and  patriotism  inspired  them 
towards  the  interests  of  their  mother  country,  we 
shall  no  longer  be  surprised  that  the  operations  of 
this  war  were  prosecuted  with  a  spirit  more  fierce 
and  rapacious  than  is  approved  by  the  humanity  or 
the  laws  of  civilized  nations. 

The  settlements  of  the  French  in  Acadie  and 
Canada,  which  were  contemporaneous  with  those  of 
New  England,  had  been  subdued  by  the  English  in 
the  war  of  1629;  and  restored,  soon  after,  at  the 
peace  of  St.  Germains.  This  restitution  was  made 
without  a  definition  of  boundaries,  which,  at  that  early 
period,  were  seldom  ascertained  with  precision.  A 
few  years  afterwards,  a  fort,  erected  by  the  Plymouth 
company  on  the  Penobscot,  was  seized  by  the  French 
as  being  within  the  present  limits  of  their  territory; 
and  was  retained  against  frequent  attempts  of  the 
English  to  regain  it,  until  the  year  1654.  They 
were  then  dislodged  from  it,  and  Acadie  was  again 
subdued  by  the  English  forces,  in  the  same  expedi- 
tion. 

Such  were  the  relations  of  these  rival  colonies  at 
the  commencement  of  the  war  in  1692;  when  the 
ambition  of  Louis  XIV.,  not  satisfied  with  the  sub- 


INTRODUCTION.  CXX1 

version  of  empires  in  Europe,  extended  its  ravages 
across  the  Atlantic. 

In  this  year  a  project  was  formed  in  France  for 
the  conquest  of  New  York.  When  preparations  for 
the  enterprise  were  already  matured,  a  sudden  and 
formidable  invasion  of  the  savages,  defeated  the 
execution  of  it.  The  Indians  of  the  Five  Nations, 
the  only  tribes  who  retained  some  attachment  to  the 
English,  landed  in  the  island  of  Montreal,  and  put 
to  death  one  thousand  of  the  inhabitants.  Pursuing 
afterwards  their  destructive  incursions  with  a  rapid 
and  irresistible  fury,  the  whole  province  was  involv- 
ed in  the  most  abject  miseries  of  war  and  famine. 
Peace  was,  however,  effected  with  these  savages, 
and  to  give  occupation  to  their  restless  and  turbulent 
spirits,  they  were  employed  in  expeditions  against  the 
frontiers  of  New  Hampshire.  A  party  penetrated  as 
far  as  Schenectady  in  New  York,  burnt  the  town, 
and  slaughtered  the  inhabitants  with  indiscriminate 
havoc,  and  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  which  have, 
perhaps,  no  parallel  in  the  catalogue  of  human  atro- 
cities. 

To  arrest  these  depredations,  and  revenge  their 
injuries,  the  people  of  the  northern  provinces  pre- 
pared to  invade  the  dominions  of  their  enemy. 
Their  operations  commenced  by  a  successful  ex- 
pedition against  Port  Royal.    A  fleet  of  forty  vessels 

VOL.   I.  Q 


CXXli  INTRODUCTION. 

sailed  for  Quebec,  from  Massachusetts.  The  troops 
of  Connecticut  and  New  York  proceeded  against 
Montreal.  This  enterprise,  by  the  improvident 
measures  and  misconduct  of  the  royal  governor  who 
presided  over  it,  proved,  on  all  sides,  unsuccessful. 
The  army  returned  without  a  single  offensive  ope- 
ration; the  soldiers  were  dispirited;  the  credit  of  the 
provinces,  in  defraying  the  expenses,  impaired;  and 
the  officers  and  projectors  were  loaded  with  the  well 
merited  reprehensions  of  their  countrymen.  A  de- 
sultory war  was  now  carried  on  against  the  frontier 
settlements  of  New  England,  without  opposition,  and 
with  all  the  rage  of  savage  barbarity. 

In  1693,  solicitations  for  assistance,  which  had 
been  frequently  urged  and  listened  to  by  the  British 
government  with  inflexible  insensibility,  were  re- 
newed; and  king  William  consented  to  employ  an 
auxiliary  force  of  four  thousand  five  hundred  men, 
which  was  deemed  sufficient  for  the  reduction  of 
Quebec.  This  armament  was  first  directed  against 
the  island  of  Martinique;  in  which  enterprise,  the 
one  half  of  their  number,  attacked  by  the  malignant 
fevers  of  that  climate,  died;  the  expedition  was, 
therefore,  abandoned,  the  remaining  force  being  in- 
sufficient for  the  prosecution  of  it;  and  the  magnifi- 
cent hopes  of  the  colonists  were  again  clouded  by 
disappointment.  During  this  course  of  impolicy  and 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXU1 

disaster,  the  French  had  recovered  the  possession  of 
Acadie,  and  commenced  an  ill-concerted  expedition 
against  Boston,  when  the  peace  of  Ryswick  put  an 
end  to  these  fruitless  hostilities,  and  tranquillity  was 
for  a  while  restored. 

In  1702,  a  controversy  about  boundaries,  kindled 
the  preexisting  sparks  of  dissention,  and  produced  a 
recommencement  of  the  war.  It  was  prosecuted  for 
several  years,  with  the  usual  depredations  of  the 
savages,  expensive  and  ineffectual  expeditions,  many 
fruitless  deputations  to  England,  and  undistinguished 
by  any  decisive  or  remarkable  event.  At  length 
queen  Anne,  who  had  now  succeeded  to  the  throne, 
yielding  to  the  importunate  solicitations  of  the  colo- 
nies, resolved  to  afford  them  assistance  adequate  to 
the  accomplishment  of  their  favourite  project.  A 
few  frigates  were  first  sent  to  act  against  Port  Royal, 
which  surrendered  with  little  resistance,  and  was 
named  Anapolis,  in  honor  of  the  queen.  This  was 
soon  followed  by  a  more  formidable  force,  destined 
for  the  reduction  of  Quebec.  It  consisted  of  seven 
regiments  of  veterans,  who  had  served  under  the 
duke  of  Marlborough,  one  regiment  of  marines,  to 
which  were  added,  two  of  provincial  troops;  in  all, 
six  thousand  five  hundred  men. 

The  greatest  activity  was,  on  this  occasion,  exert- 
ed by  the  colonists  to  furnish  their  portion  of  men. 


CXX1V  INTRODUCTION. 

and  supplies  of  money  and  provisions  for  the  army. 
The  fleet  set  sail  from  Boston  with  the  most  san- 
guine expectation  of  success.  But  these  magnificent 
prospects,  and  animating  hopes  were,  in  a  single 
night,  dissipated  by  the  winds  of  heaven.  Eight 
transports,  on  entering  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence were  wrecked,  and  one  thousand  persons  per- 
ished. On  the  intelligence  of  this  disaster,  a  coope- 
rating force  of  four  thousand  men,  furnished  by  New 
York,  Connecticut  and  New  Jersey,  and  directed 
against  Montreal,  retired  with  precipitation  to  Alba- 
ny. Before  any  further  movements  were  meditated, 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht  put  a  termination  to  the  war.  I 
In  1 744,  hostilities  being  recommenced  in  Europe, 
the  colonies  with  equal  zeal  and  animosity  resumed 
their  arms.  Several  offensive  operations  were  at- 
tempted unsuccessfully  by  the  French.  On  the  part 
of  New  England  the  campaign  was  begun  in  1 745, 
by  a  brilliant  and  hazardous  enterprise;  the  conquest 
of  Lewisburgh,  capital  of  Cape  Breton.  The  po- 
sition of  this  place  rendered  the  possession  of  it 
highly  important  to  the  French.  Twenty-five  years, 
and  thirty  millions  of  livres  had  been  expended  in  its 
fortification;  and  the  unexpected  capture  of  it  was 
much  deplored  in  France,  was  a  subject  of  exulta- 
tion in  England,  and  the  enterprise  being  projected, 
and  achieved  almost  exclusively  by  the  colonists, 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXV 

produced  great  glory  to  the  American  arms.  Four 
thousand  troops,  levied  principally  in  Massachusetts, 
were  employed  in  the  expedition.  Colonel  Pepperel, 
an  officer  of  little  experience,  but  great  spirit  and 
activity,  conducted  the  siege.  This  being  the  most 
splendid  and  only  decisive  advantage  gained  over  the 
enemy  during  the  war,  attempts  were  made  by  the 
British  officers,  by  magnifying  the  services  of  the 
fleet,  to  arrogate  the  principal  honors  of  the  achieve- 
ment. But  the  conspicuous  merit  of  the  provincial 
army  extorted  at  length  the  involuntary  applause. 
Their  commander  was  rewarded  with  the  title  of 
baronet,  and  a  regiment  was  given  him  in  the  En- 
glish establishment  in  America.  A  like  honor  was 
conferred  upon  governor  Shirly,  and  a  reimburse- 
ment was  made  by  the  parliament  of  the  expenses 
incurred  during  the  expedition. 

Preparations  were  now  made  by  the  colonies,  ani- 
mated by  their  previous  success,  for  the  invasion  of 
Canada;  but  disappointments  in  the  promised  coope- 
ration of  England,  arrested  the  immediate  prosecu- 
tion of  the  design;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  intelligence 
was  received  of  the  approach  of  a  formidable 
French  fleet  and  army,  which  had  been  fitted  out  for 
the  devastation  of  the  whole  of  the  American  coast 
and  the  entire  conquest  of  New  England.  It  was 
commanded  bv  the  duke  D'Anville,  and  consisted  of 


CXXvi  INTRODUCTION. 

forty  ships  of  war  and  fifty-six  transports,  laden  with 
provisions  and  military  stores,  carrying  thirty-five 
hundred  land  forces,  and  forty  thousand  stand  of 
arms  designed  for  the  Canadians  and  friendly  Indi- 
ans. But  an  accident,  which  was  assigned  by  the 
English  colonies  to  an  immediate  interposition  of 
Providence,  relieved  them  from  the  calamities  with 
which  they  were  threatened.  The  fleet  was  envel- 
loped  in  a  furious  storm.  Many  of  the  vessels  were 
wrecked  with  the  loss  of  the  crews,  and  the  rest  dis- 
persed. The  scattered  troops  only  reached  the  point 
of  destination  to  be  destroyed,  almost  to  utter  extinc- 
tion, by  a  contagious  disease.  The  projected  invasion 
was  consequently  relinquished.  The  fragments  of 
this  mighty  armament  being,  however,  collected,  an 
attempt  was  devised  against  Anapolis.  They  sailed 
for  this  purpose,  and  being  again  overtaken,  on  the 
coast,  by  a  tempest,  were  wrecked  or  dispersed. 
The  few  who  escaped  of  this  fatal  armada  returned 
singly  to  France.  The  commander  in  chief,  and  vice 
admiral,  rendered  desperate  by  so  rapid  a  succession 
of  disasters,  and  unwilling  to  survive  their  humilia- 
tion, perished  by  suicide.  The  treaty  of  Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle  was  now  signed,  in  1748,  by  which  it  was  sti- 
pulated that  all  conquests,  during  the  late  war,  should 
be  restored.     And  the  repossession  of  Cape  Breton 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXV11 

by  the  French,  was  regarded  in  America,  with  much 
discontent  and  mortification. 

The  implacable  animosity  which  a  rivalry  of  inte- 
rests had  kindled  in  the  bosoms  of  French  and  Eng- 
lishmen, left  to  the  European  continent,  but  few  and 
transient  intervals  of  repose.  The  unpropitious  prox- 
imity of  their  possessions  in  the  new  world,  had  en- 
gendered the  same  principles  of  discord.  The  flames 
of  war,  which  were  scarcely  composed,  by  the  late 
peace,  burst  out  again  into  a  more  violent  conflagra- 
tion, and  with  a  rage  only  to  be  extinguished  by  the 
dissolution  of  the  French  power  in  America. 

The  French,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  having  discovered  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, had  founded  there,  in  1122,  the  colony  of  New 
Orleans.  Allured  by  the  commercial  advantages  of 
that  river,  and  by  the  delicious  climate  and  fertile 
regions  of  Louisiana,  they  had  advanced,  in  de- 
tached settlements,  towards  the  Illinois  and  Ohio, 
and  had  penetrated  at  length  to  the  vicinity  of  their 
Canadian  dominions.  A  new  field  was  here  insen- 
sibly opened  to  their  ambition.  Already  strengthen- 
ed by  a  continuity  of  fortifications,  stretched  along  a 
line  of  twelve  hundred  miles;  by  the  affection  of  the 
savages,  whose  numerous  tribes  were  trained  under 
their  standard ^to  military  subordination;  possessing 
or  claiming  an  immense  territory,  unlimited  towards 


CXXV11I  JNTRODUCTION. 

the  western  ocean,  they  now  aspired  to  the  conquest 
of  the  English  settlements  upon  the  Atlantic,  and  to 
the  establishment  of  an  universal  monarchy  in  the 
new  world.  The  extensive  country  embraced  within 
the  grasp  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Mississippi,  were 
but  a  section  of  the  projected  "  empire  of  New 
France;"  and  the  great  lakes,  which  form  the  point 
of  connection  of  these  rivers,  were  designed  as  the 
throne  of  their  magnificent  dominions. 

This  project,  so  congenial  to  the  illimitable  and 
gothic  ambition  of  the  French,  was  laid  upon  a  deep 
and  solid  foundation.  In  magnitude,  as  well  as  con- 
formity of  design,  it  appears,  indeed,  to  have  been 
modelled  upon  the  conceptions  of  nature  herself  in 
the  production  of  this  vast  continent.  The  bonds  of 
union,  and  strength  of  empire,  must  necessarily  be 
more  indissoluble  in  the  vicinity  of  navigable  rivers. 
The  numerous  conveniences  and  reciprocity  of  in- 
terests produced  by  such  streams,  afford  the  strong- 
est motives  of  association;  and  the  laborious  inhabi- 
tants who  cultivate  their  adjacent  and  fertile  plains, 
must  ever  prevail  over  the  luxurious  population  of 
overgrown  sea-port  towns.  The  waters  of  the  great 
lakes,  of  the  Mississippi  and  St.  Lawrence,  with 
their  various  communicating  streams,  are  the  cha- 
racteristic lineaments  by  which  the  hand  of  Provi- 
dence has   designated  the  force  and   direction  of 


INTRODUCTION.  CXX1X 

the  American  empire.  These  are  the  channels  through 
which  the  principles  of  life  and  vigor  are  to  circu- 
late, by  which  the  heart  is  to  be  animated,  and  the 
extremest  members  to  receive  their  nutriment  and 
control. 

The  English  colonists  saw  with  alarm  the  ambi- 
tious projects  of  their  enemy,  and  were  conscious  of 
the  necessity  of  breaking  down,  in  its  origin,  the  for- 
midable circumvalation  with  which  they  were  en- 
closed. Settlements  were  attempted  by  the  English, 
in  1753,  upon  the  Ohio,  which  intersected  the  line 
of  connection  between  the  northern  and  southern 
colonies  of  the  French.  They  were  warned  by  the 
governor  of  Canada  to  desist.  The  admonition  was 
disregarded.  Some  traders  of  the  company  were, 
therefore,  seized  and  carried  off  as  prisoners  of  war 
to  the  neighbouring  French  forts  upon  lake  Erie. 
Major  Washington  was  despatched,  by  the  governor 
of  Virginia,  to  remonstrate  against  this  outrage,  and 
to  require,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  French  com- 
mander should  retire  from  the  dominions  of  his  Bri- 
tannic majesty.  But  the  conference  terminated  in 
mutual  recriminations;  and  it  became  soon  evident, 
from  the  haughty  replies  of  the  French,  that  these 
disputed  claims  were  to  be  submitted  to  the  decision 
of  the  sword, 

VOL.  I.  R 


CXXX  INTRODUCTION. 

A  small  force  was  levied  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Washington,  for  the  occupation  and 
defence  of  the  disputed  territory.  He  encountered 
a  party  of  the  enemy,  who  offered  resistance  to  his 
march,  and  defeated  them.  Proceeding,  then,  to 
occupy  an  advantageous  position  at  the  junction  of 
the  Alleghany  and  Monongahela,  for  the  erection  of 
a  fort,  he  was  attacked  by  a  superior  force  in  the 
vicinity  of  that  place,  and  compelled,  after  a  coura- 
geous defence,  to  capitulate.  The  French  were 
enabled,  by  the  defeat  of  this  enterprise,  to  seize  the 
advantageous  position  designed  by  Washington,  and 
to  put  themselves  in  a  firm  posture  of  defence. 

The  population  of  the  English  colonies  was,  at 
this  period,  computed  at  about  one  million  of  inha- 
bitants; that  of  the  French  did  not  exceed  fifty-two 
thousand.  With  this  disparity  of  force,  the  French, 
however,  possessed  collateral  advantages,  arising 
both  from  the  nature  of  their  government  and  local 
situation,  at  least  paramount  to  the  numerical  supe- 
riority of  their  rival. 

The  first  settlements  of  Canada  were  commenced 
by  military  expeditions,  and  the  parties  engaged  in 
them,  had  obtained,  by  a  conformity  of  pursuits,  and 
the  benefits  derived  from  their  commerce,  an  entire 
ascendant  over  the  natives  of  the  country.  In  the 
active  and  violent  occupations  of  the  chace,  their 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXX1 

bodies  were  invigorated  and  matured  for  the  arts  of 
war.  They  acquired  in  this  manner  of  life,  a  know- 
ledge of  the  country,  and  selected  the  strongest  mili- 
tary positions,  all  which,  being  connected  by  naviga- 
ble waters,  and  placed  under  the  superintendence  of 
a  single  governor,  gave  union  and  energy  to  their  • 
operations. 

The  British  settlements,  on  the  contrary,  were 
altogether  civil  institutions,  and  without  any  general 
system  of  political  union.  Dispersed  upon  remote 
and  independent  streams,  under  separate  jurisdic- 
tion, so  little  intermediate  communication  subsisted 
amongst  them,  that  even  a  journey  from  one  to  the 
other  was,  in  many  instances,  a  perilous  enterprise. 
This  dissociable  temper  was  also  favoured  by  reli- 
gious antipathies,  to  which  mutual  persecution  had 
exclusively  and  pertinaciously  attached  them.  Whilst 
the  erection  of  a  military  fortress  was  the  first  pre- 
paration of  their  adversary,  in  the  foundation  of  a 
colony,  theirs  was  the  building  of  a  church.  With 
this  pacific  and  religious  spirit,  the  great  object  of 
their  temporal  ambition  was  the  acquisition  of  lands; 
and  treating  the  Indians,  after  the  example  of  most 
other  nations,  as  an  exception  to  the  eternal  and 
universal  laws  of  justice,  they  sometimes  gratified 
this  cupidity  by  the  abuse  of  treaties,  by  fraudulent 
pretences,    and   by   the   violation   of  engagements 


CXXXil  JNTKUODCTION. 

which,  with  the  rest  of  the  world,  they  had,  no  doubt, 
considered  inviolable  and  sacred.  To  this  cause  we 
may  partially  ascribe  that  peculiar  disaffection  and 
hostility  towards  them,  which  prevailed  amongst  the 
savages,  and  which  were  studiously  fomented  by  the 
intrigues  and  instigation  of  the  French.  The  neces- 
sity, also,  of  penetrating  towards  the  possessions  of 
their  enemy,  through  a  wilderness  of  inhospitable 
woods  and  mountains,  without  roads,  without  ad- 
vanced posts,  or  magazines  of  forage,  and  exposed 
to  continual  ambuscades  of  an  adversary  whose  na- 
tive residence  was  the  desert,  opposed,  in  addition 
to  the  other  adverse  circumstances  1  have  enumerat- 
ed, a  very  powerful  obstacle  to  the  success  of  their 
military  expeditions. 

In  making  preparations  for  the  present  conflict, 
various  expedients  were  devised,  by  the  English  co- 
lonies, to  counteract  the  natural  and  political  advan- 
tages of  their  enemy.  The  first  measure  was  to 
court  new  friendships,  strengthen  their  alliances 
which  already  subsisted  between  the  Indian  tribes, 
and  concert  amongst  themselves  a  more  general  and 
uniform  system  of  operations.  Commissioners  from 
the  different  states,  as  far  south  as  Maryland,  were 
convened  at  Albany,  to  hold  a  conference  with  the 
Five  Nations;  at  the  same  time,  a  committee,  select- 
ed of  one  member  from  each  province,  digested  and 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXXM 

represented  a  plan  of  union  for  the  administration  of 
the  colonies.  It  was  proposed  that  a  general  gov- 
ernment should  be  constituted  by  act  of  parliament, 
and  administered  by  a  president  appointed  by  the 
crown,  with  a  grand  council,  elected  at  the  interval 
of  three  years  by  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  To 
levy  taxes,  to  organize  the  army,  erect  fortifications, 
to  pass  laws,  and  concert  measures  for  the  mutual 
benefit  and  security  of  the  provinces,  were  the  essen- 
tial powers  delegated  to  this  national  assembly. 
The  project  was,  however,  rejected  in  Great 
Britain,  for  reasons  already  mentioned;  it  was 
formally  opposed  by  the  commissioners  of  Connec- 
ticut, and  not  generally  approved  throughout  the 
other  colonies.  An  assembly,  thus  vested  with  su- 
preme jurisdiction,  whose  chief  officer  was  placed 
under  the  influence  of  the  crown,  was  regarded  not 
only  as  a  renunciation  of  their  separate  indepen- 
dence, but  an  authority  formidable  to  the  liberties  of 
the  people.  The  war  was,  therefore,  prosecuted  by 
English  troops,  aided  by  the  voluntary  contributions 
of  each  province. 

General  Braddock  arrived  in  America  in  1755, 
and,  in  conference  with  the  several  governors  of  the 
states,  fixed  the  plan  of  the  first  campaign.  The 
principal  British  force,  led  by  that  officer  in  person, 
with  reinforcements  from  Virginia  and  Maryland, 


CXXXiv  INTRODUCTION. 

was  designed  against  fort  Du  Quesne.  Simultaneous 
movements  were  prepared  against  Niagara  and 
Crown  Point  by  American  regulars,  and  by  troops 
levied  for  this  object  in  New  England  and  New 
York. 

As  a  prelude  to  these  operations,  an  expedition 
was  undertaken  from  Massachusetts  against  the 
French  military  posts  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  limits  of 
which  country  had  long  been  a  subject  of  contesta- 
tion yet  undetermined.  The  command,  on  this  oc- 
casion, was  conferred  upon  lieutenant  colonel  Monc- 
ton,  a  British  officer,  it  is  said,  of  distinguished  mi- 
litary talents;  who,  in  the  course  of  a  single  month, 
with  the  loss  of  three  men  only,  gained  entire  pos- 
session of  that  province.  This  auspicious  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  diffused  great  joy  in  New 
England,  but  the  conclusion  of  the  enterprise  was 
marked  by  an  act  of  inhumanity  which  covers  with 
disgrace  the  authors  of  it. 

At  the  surrender  of  Accadie,  or  Nova  Scotia,  by 
the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
Frenchmen,  from  an  honourable  devotion  to  their 
native  country,  had  refused  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
Great  Britain,  but  with  the  qualification  of  not  bear- 
ing arms  against  France,  in  defence  of  the  English 
title  to  that  province.  A  stipulation  of  neutrality  was, 
therefore,  admitted  by  the  British  commander.     In 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXXV 

the  present  contest,  either  believing  their  preexisting 
obligation  with  their  sovereign  indissoluble,  or  from 
a  national  predilection,  stronger  than  duty,  about 
three  hundred  of  these  people  were  taken  in  the  gar- 
rison of  Beau  Sejour,  in  arms  against  the  English. 

From  the  obvious  difficulty  of  retaining  them  in 
subjection  to  English  authority,  and  the  impolicy  of 
expelling  them  from  the  province,  to  increase  the 
neighbouring  forces  of  Canada,  it  was  resolved,  by 
a  council  held  to  determine  their  fate,  to  disperse 
them  amongst  the  colonies  of  their  enemy.  They 
were  then  driven  from  their  homes,  their  lands  for- 
feited to  the  crown;  and,  to  prevent  the  subsistence 
of  those  who  might  attempt  an  escape  from  the  ven- 
geance so  cruelly  inflicted  upon  them,  the  whole 
country  was  laid  waste,  and  their  houses  reduced  to 
ashes.  Thus,  the  inhabitants  of  Accadie,  from  a 
blind  attachment  to  their  native  country,  were  pre- 
cipitated from  the  height  of  prosperity,  into  the  most 
abject  miseries  of  exile,  beggary  and  scorn. 

General  Braddock,  in  the  mean  time,  having  ma- 
tured his  preparations,  advanced  on  his  fatal  expedi- 
tion against  fort  Du  Q,uesne.  Unwilling  to  retard 
the  execution  of  his  enterprise  by  the  tedious  delays 
attendant  on  the  march  of  a  numerous  army,  im- 
peded by  the  transportation  of  baggage  and  military 
stores;  and  wishing,  at  the  same  time,  to  anticipate 


CXXXV1  INTRODUCTION. 

the  designs  of  the  enemy,  he  placed  himself  at  the 
head  of  twelve  hundred  chosen  troops,  and  proceed- 
ed in  advance  towards  the  point  of  destination.  And, 
now,  in  full  confidence  of  success,  he  moved  on  with 
slow  and  heedless  march,  through  an  open  woodland 
upon  the  borders  of  the  Monongahela.  The  instru- 
ments of  destruction,  in  silent  ambuscade,  awaited 
his  approach;  and  in  the  midst  of  this  improvident 
security,  when  least  conscious  of  the  peril,  the  im- 
pending storm  burst  upon  him,  with  all  the  accumu- 
lated horrors  of  death  and  defeat.  His  brave  sol- 
diers, as  if  by  the  lightning  of  heaven,  without  the 
consolation  of  resistance  or  revenge,  fell  around  him. 
The  whole  army  was  thrown  into  irrevocable  confu- 
sion. Instead  of  advancing,  or  retreating  from  the 
perilous  position  into  which  his  indiscretion  had  led 
them;  as  if  to  afford  the  assailants  all  the  immuni- 
ties and  advantages  of  their  invisibility,  he  resolved 
to  reestablish  the  order  of  his  devoted  troops  upon 
the  same  ground;  amidst  the  unintermitting  fire  and 
unerring  bullets  of  their  inaccessible  foe.  In  this  at- 
tempt, one  half  of  the  private  soldiers  perished  in 
indiscriminateslaughter.  Of  eighty-five  officers,  sixty- 
four  were  killed  or  wounded.  Washington  alone 
remained  on  horseback.  The  general  himself,  re- 
ceived at  length  a  mortal  wound,  was  borne  from 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXXV11 

the  field,  and  the  remains  of  the  army  fled  in  dis- 
order and  trepidation. 

Braddock  is  represented  as  a  soldier  of  much  per- 
sonal courage,  but  of  a  temper,  haughty,  sullen  and 
imperious,  entertaining  a  dangerous  contempt  for  his 
enemy,  and  an  arrogant  disregard  for  the  admoni- 
tions of  his  friends.  The  advice  of  the  provincial 
officers,  whose  experience  of  Indian  warfare,  had 
taught  them  to  foresee  the  consequence  of  his  teme- 
rity, he  received  with  a  disdainful  or  affected  supe- 
riority. The  colonial  troops  he  represented  in  his 
letters  to  England,  as  a  factious  undisciplined  rabble; 
they  bore  him,  however,  from  the  field,  and  preserved, 
by  their  courage,  the  remnants  of  his  defeated  army. 
To  the  last  scene  of  this  tragic  adventure,  he  retain- 
ed his  characteristic  inflexibility,  and  atoned,  by  an 
intrepid,  stern  and  contumacious  sacrifice  of  life,  for 
his  obstinacy  and  indiscretion. 

The  intelligence  of  this  disaster  soon  reached  the 
main  army,  which  advanced,  with  much  toil,  through 
the  craggy  and  mountainous  desert.  Whatever  had 
been  heard  of  Indian  ferocity,  crowded  upon  the 
imagination  of  the  British  soldier.  He  represented 
the  fierce  and  ravenous  foe,  now  rioting  with  all  the 
havoc  of  savage  barbarity,  in  the  blood  of  his  slaugh- 
tered associates;  and  the  body  of  the  expiring  general, 

which  was,  in  the  mean  time,  borne  to  the  encanip- 
vol.  i.  s 


CXXXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

ment,  embittered  the  agony  of  his  feelings.  The 
darkness  of  the  intervening  night,  the  hideous  yell  of 
the  savages  that  pierced,  at  intervals,  through  the 
silence  of  the  vast  solitude,  filled  the  fugitives,  who 
flocked  in  from  all  sides,  with  many  visions  of  super- 
stitious horror,  and  the  whole  camp,  by  the  conta- 
gion of  their  fears,  was  involved  in  sudden  fright  and 
lamentation.  As  if  reduced  to  the  last  necessity,  their 
baggage  was  destroyed;  all  further  operations  of  the 
campaign  relinquished,  and  the  whole  of  the  army  fell 
back,  with  headlong  precipitation,  to  Philadelphia. 
Virginia,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland,  were  left  to 
the  unrestrained  depredations  of  the  enemy;  the 
wretched  inhabitants  of  the  frontier  were  murdered, 
or  driven  into  the  interior,  and  alarm  was  spread  to 
the  most  distant  extremities  of  the  sea  coast. 

The  invasion  of  Canada  was  attended  with  few 
events  to  relieve  the  gloomy  aspect  of  the  West.  The 
troops  for  this  service  were  furnished,  at  the  discre- 
tion of  each  province,  and  the  conflicting  interests  and 
discordant  views  of  governments,  without  mutual 
consent  or  a  controling  power,  retarded  the  opera- 
tions of  the  campaign  until  the  season  of  hostility  was 
past.  The  expedition  against  Crown  Point,  which 
consisted  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred  men,  and 
commanded  by  general  Johnson,  arrived  in  the  end 
of  September,  at  the  south  of  Lake  George.    Being 


INTRODUCTION.  CXXX1X 

opposed,  in  this  place,  by  a  small  force  of  twelve 
hundred  regulars  and  six  hundred  Indians,  an  en- 
gagement ensued,  in  which  the  baron  Dieskeau,  com- 
mander of  the  French  troops,  was  killed,  his  baggage 
taken,  and  his  forces  completely  routed. 

The  failures  and  defeats,  which  marked  the  opera- 
tions of  the  whole  campaign,  bestowed  no  ordinary 
lustre  upon  this  solitary  and  superficial  advantage. 
The  intelligence  was  hailed  throughout  the  north 
with  transports  of  joy.  The  general  was  loaded  with 
caresses;  and  the  brilliant  achievement  reanimated 
a  little  the  depressed  spirits  of  the  South.  In  Eng- 
land the  title  of  baronet  was  conferred  on  him  by  the 
king,  and  five  thousand  pounds  sterling,  as  a  more 
solid  testimonial  of  the  gratitude  of  his  country,  were 
voted  by  the  parliament.  But  this  officer,  overloaded 
by  the  honours  of  his  victory,  attempted  no  further 
movements  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  war.  The 
residue  of  the  campaign  was  passed  in  languid  and 
ineffectual  operations.  The  enemies5  territory  was 
untouched,  their  forts  unmolested,  and  the  troops,  at 
length,  destitute  of  clothing,  and  provisions,  and  satis- 
fied with  their  laurels,  became  importunate  for  re- 
turn; they  were  discharged,  therefore,  without  hav- 
ing accomplished  any  of  the  ultimate  objects  em- 
braced in  the  expedition. 


Cxi  INTRODUCE  ION. 

General  Shirly,  now  commander  in  chief,  and  to 
whom  was  assigned  the  execution  of  the  enterprise 
against  Niagara,  completed  his  preparations  against 
the  last  of  August,  and  with  fifteen  hundred  men  ad- 
vanced as  far  as  Oswego;  but  the  season  being  spent, 
and  further  delay  occasioned  by  a  continuation  of 
rains,  it  became  manifest  that  no  signal  service  could 
be  attempted  by  a  force  so  inconsiderable;  seven  hun- 
dred men  being  retained  to  complete  the  fortification 
of  the  place,  the  rest  returned  to  the  inglorious  obscu- 
rity of  their  firesides.  Thus  the  campaign  of  1 755, 
undertaken  with  the  brightest  prospects,  exhibits  in 
its  progress,  unless  we  except  the  events  of  Nova 
Scotia  and  Crown  Point,  a  series  of  disaster,  disap- 
pointment, and  disgrace;  and,  at  its  termination,  the 
whole  frontiers  of  the  British  provinces  were  expos- 
ed to  the  most  afflicting  of  all  human  sufferings,  the 
perpetual  incursions  of  the  Indians,  whose  ferocity 
transcended  on  this  occasion,  all  preceding  examples 
of  cruelty  and  outrage.  The  details  of  this  indivi- 
dual distress  are  lost,  amidst  the  more  magnificent 
ravages  of  the  world,  to  the  records  of  history ;  but 
verbal  tradition  still  preserves,  in  humble  life,  the 
mournful  remembrance  of  it.  The  murders,  the 
havoc,  the  massacres  of  the  savage  yet  employ,  with 
undiminished  interest,  the  winter  evenings  of  the 
cottage,  and  the  unlettered  offspring  of  the  peasant, 


INTRODUCTION.  CXll 

in  ages  yet  to  come,  will,  no  doubt,  listen  with  as- 
tonishment and  horror  to  the  dismal  tales  of  these 
times. 

To  alleviate  the  calamities,  and  obliterate  the  dis- 
graces of  the  preceding  year,  the  most  vigorous  mea- 
sures were  concerted  for  the  ensuing  campaign.  A 
grand  council  of  war  was  held  at  New  York.  It 
was  resolved  to  raise,  for  the  expedition  of  Crown 
Point,  ten  thousand  men;  six  thousand  for  that  of 
Niagara;  three  thousand  for  fort  Du  Quesne.  Some 
subordinate  movements  were,  at  the  same  time, 
projected.  To  effect  these  preparations,  general  Shir- 
ty exerted  his  utmost  diligence  and  activity;  but 
though  the  colonies  were  animated  with  the  warm- 
est zeal  for  the  promotion  of  this  war,  no  force 
could  be  furnished  by  them,  adequate,  especially 
under  the  evil  auspices  of  the  British  generals,  to  the 
successful  prosecution  of  it.  Military  operations  were, 
in  America,  expensive  and  laborious.  Troops  were 
necessarily  collected  from  a  vast  extent  of  territory, 
and  the  supplies  of  ammunition  and  provisions  trans- 
ported by  land,  through  a  rude  and  uncultivated  coun- 
try. The  colonial  governments  without  revenue  or 
credit,  unused  to  taxation  and  already  overwhelmed 
by  the  expenses  of  previous  wars,  were  no  longer 
able  to  provide  the  subsistence  of  so  considerable  a 
force.   Nor  was  it  without  an  extraordinary  impulse, 


CXlii  INTRODUCTION. 

that  men  accustomed  to  prosperous  civil  pursuits, 
were  drawn  into  the  ranks  of  an  army,  by  voluntary 
enlistments.  After  magnificent  projects  and  indefati- 
gable efforts  for  the  honors  of  the  campaign,  the 
whole  number  of  soldiers  assembled  at  the  general 
rendezvous,  did  not  exceed  seven  thousand  men. 

This  force  was,  with  much  labour  and  expense, 
marched  to  the  borders  of  Lake  George,  and  being 
reviewed  by  the  commanding  officer,  was  declared, 
contrary  to  the  opinion  of  more  accomplished  mili- 
tary men,  insufficient  for  the  magnitude  of  the  under- 
taking. The  deficiency  in  numbers  was,  however, 
supplied  by  the  arrival  of  English  troops  under  gene- 
ral Abercrombie,  who  was  appointed  to  supersede 
Shirly  in  the  chief  command.  But  the  predilection 
shown  to  British  soldiers,  manifested  by  the  eleva- 
tion of  native  Englishmen  to  the  offices  of  preemi- 
nence and  dignity  in  the  army,  kindled,  in  the  sus- 
ceptible minds  of  the  colonists,  the  sparks  of  discord, 
and  counteracted  whatever  benefits  might  have 
otherwise  resulted  from  an  accession  of  force.  For 
although  the  Americans,  humbled  by  previous  defeats, 
were  eager  for  the  success  of  the  campaign,  and  con- 
scious of  the  necessity  of  concert  in  the  administra- 
tion of  it;  all  these  feelings  of  interest  and  inclination 
were  extinguished  by  this  opprobrious  intimation  of 
inferiority.     The  stubborn  spirit  of  their  forefathers 


INTRODUCTION.  CXliii 

revived.  It  soon  became  evident  that  no  military 
enterprize  could  be  attempted,  by  the  association  of 
these  incompatible  elements. 

The  heat  of  the  altercation  which  arose  on  this 
subject,  was  however  diminished  by  the  arrival  of 
lord  Loudun,  who  was  now  elevated  to  the  chief 
command  of  his  majesty's  forces.  This  nobleman, 
with  some  petulant  remonstrances  against  their  in- 
docility,  acceded  to  the  solicitation  of  the  American 
officers,  that  their  troops  might  be  permitted  to  act 
separately,  and  according  to  their  original  organiza- 
tion. 

Half  the  season  had  elapsed  in  discussions  and 
preparations;  and  before  any  enterprize  was  at- 
tempted, Monsieur  de  Montcalm,  successor  of  Dies- 
keau  in  Canada,  proceeded  against  Oswego,  and 
the  garrison,  consisting  of  sixteen  hundred  men,  pro- 
visioned for  six  months,  capitulated  as  prisoners  of 
war.  Colonel  Mercer,  the  commandant  of  this  place, 
an  officer  of  spirit  and  intrepidity,  perished  in  its  de- 
fence. A  considerable  naval  force,  on  the  lake,  was 
at  the  same  time  captured  by  the  enemy.  By  these 
unprosperous  events  the  British  army  was  diverted 
from  all  offensive  operations,  and  distributed  along 
the  most  accessible  parts  of  the  frontier  to  protect  it 
against  the  invasions  of  the  French.  In  addition  to 
other  disasters,  the  small  pox,  more  frightful  to  the 


CXliv  INTRODUCTION. 

provincials  than  the  swords  of  their  enemy,  broke 
out  at  Albany,  and  the  British  troops  being  stationed 
in  garrisons,  the  rest  of  the  army  was  discharged. 
No  attempt  was  made  towards  Ontario,  or  fort  Du 
Q,uesne.  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  Virginia  were 
unable  to  protect  their  frontiers  against  the  Indians; 
and  thus  the  enterprizes  of  this  year,  like  the  last, 
were  concluded  in  disgrace,  discomfiture  and  defeat, 
For  the  objects  of  the  campaign  of  1757,  a  grand 
military  council  was  convened  by  lord  Loudun  at 
Boston,  composed  of  the  governors  of  New  England 
and  Nova  Scotia,  amongst  whom  his  lordship  presi- 
ded; sensible  that  his  merits  were  too  minute  for  vul- 
gar comprehension,  he  sought  to  place  himself,  on 
a  more  conspicuous  elevation,  by  depressing  the  ob- 
jects around  him.  He  commenced  the  deliberations 
of  the  assembly,  with  an  invective  against  the  neg- 
ligence of  his  predecessors,  dwelt  long  upon  his  own 
services,  enumerated  the  defeats,  the  calamities  that 
might  have  been  sustained,  but  for  the  signal  bravery 
of  the  British  army,  and  attributed,  in  all  the  bitter- 
ness of  recrimination,  to  the  incompetency  of  colo- 
nial troops,  the  disasters  of  the  preceding  campaign. 
Having  thus  sown  the  seeds  of  distrust  and  aliena- 
tion, and  having  secured,  as  he  supposed,  by  this 
usual  expedient  of  conscious  inferiority,  an  immunity 
from  past  disgraces,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  his  fu~ 


INTRODUCTION.  Cxlv 

tare  infallibility,  he  proceeded  to  estimate  the  contri- 
butions of  each  province.  His  requisitions  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  army  being  speedily  complied  with,  he 
appeared  early  in  the  spring,  upon  the  field,  with  an 
imposing  and  terrific  apparatus  of  war.  His  army 
had  increased,  by  reinforcements  from  England,  to 
twenty  thousand  men,  and  twenty  ships  of  the  line 
were  placed  at  his  disposition.  Glorious  enterprises, 
portentous  and  formidable  invasions  were  threaten- 
ed. The  whole  campaign  was  pregnant  with  great 
and  important  events.  But  it  was  the  usual  fate  of 
his  lordship's  military  projects,  to  be  exhibited  for  a 
while  in  all  the  inflation  of  vanity,  and  to  terminate 
at  length  in  abortion. 

The  capture  of  Louisburgh,  which  had  already 
been  the  theatre  of  glory  to  the  American  arms,  was 
the  first  enterprize  which  the  adventurous  ambition 
of  this  officer  prompted  him  to  undertake.  The 
whole  of  the  forces  under  his  control,  by  land  and 
sea,  were  assembled  at  Halifax,  destined  to  proceed 
from  thence  upon  this  brilliant  adventure;  but,  learn- 
ing that  the  preparations  of  the  French  were  formid- 
able for  the  defence  of  that  fortress,  the  general  was 
alarmed,  and  with  characteristic  prudence,  resolved 
to  postpone  the  execution  of  it.  Leaving,  also,  the 
provinces  of  the  North  open  to  the  predatory  incur- 
sions of  the  Indians,  he  returned  with  the  admiral 

VOL.  I.  T 


CXlvi  INTRODUCTION. 

to  New  York,  and  the  provincial  troops  were  dis- 
charged. 

Montcalm,  who  was  emboldened  by  these  irreso- 
lute movements,  and  apprehending  no  further  dan- 
ger of  invasion  from  an  adversary  so  impotent  and 
unwarlike,  laid  siege  to  fort  William  Henry,  upon 
lake  George.  This  fortress  was  defended  by  three 
thousand  men,  and  commanded  the  access  to  the 
British  provinces  on  the  North.  The  garrison,  after 
a  gallant  resistance,  capitulated;  and,  with  this 
achievement,  ended  the  operations  of  the  campaign. 

Lord  Loudun,  now,  went  into  winter  quarters,  but 
attempting  to  distribute  a  portion  of  his  troops  among 
the  citizens  of  Massachusetts,  a  resistance  to  this 
measure  involved  him  in  a  rude  controversy  with  that 
stubborn  people,  which  he  sustained  with  his  usual 
vigor  and  decision.  He  required,  with  furious  de- 
nunciations of  vengeance,  an  immediate  compliance 
with  his  orders.  But  his  antagonists  remaining  un- 
terrified  by  threats,  the  conspicuous  glare  of  the 
meteor  was  suddenly  extinguished;  he  receded  from 
the  contest,  and  tranquillity  was  restored.  Having 
now,  during  two  campaigns,  disgraced  the  American 
arms,  this  officer  disappeared  from  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion; and,  wearied  of  the  rigorous  austerities  of  a 
military  life,  returned  to  the  bosom  of  that  obscurity 


INTRODUCTION.  CXlvii 

for  which  nature,  more  powerful  than  birth  or  incli- 
nation, had  designed  him. 

In  the  commencement  of  the  campaign  of  1758, 
the  French  possessed  all  the  important  military  posts, 
and  every  physical  advantage  essential  to  the  suc- 
cessful prosecution  of  it.  The  prosperity  of  their 
arms  in  Europe,  was  still  more  conspicuous  and 
preeminent.  But  their  season  of  glory  had  ap- 
proached its  meridian,  and  the  spirit  of  Great  Britain, 
which  an  evil  administration  had  depressed,  in  every 
quarter  of  the  globe,  to  the  depths  of  ignominy,  now 
resumed  its  native  elevation.  This  change  in  the 
political  affairs  of  these  two  nations  is  usually  attri- 
buted, and  perhaps  with  good  reason,  to  the  instru- 
mentality of  William  Pitt. 

The  animosity  with  which  this  statesman  was 
animated  towards  the  French  nation;  the  indignant 
humiliation  he  felt  at  their  successes  and  the  prostra- 
ted majesty  of  his  own  country,  called  forth,  on  this 
occasion,  all  that  prophetic  wisdom  and  eloquence, 
with  which  nature  had  so  profusely  endowed  him. 
He  infused  new  life  into  the  languid  councils  of  his 
countrymen,  reanimated  their  martial  spirit,  and  in 
America  as  well  as  Europe,  turned  back  the  impe- 
tuous career  of  victory  upon  the  operations  of  his 
enemy. 


CXh'iii  INTRODUCTION. 

The  enterprizes  of  this  year,  as  early  as  the  sea- 
son would  permit  it,  were  prosecuted  against  Louis- 
burgh,  Crown  Point,  and  fort  Du  Q,uesne;  and,  on 
the  part  of  the  English,  with  an  army  the  most  for- 
midable that  had  yet  appeared  upon  the  American 
continent.  It  consisted  of  fifty  thousand  men;  twen- 
ty thousand  of  whom  were  provincial  troops;  and 
being,  for  the  most  part,  led  by  officers  of  experience 
and  military  skill,  though  not  without  disaster,  oblite- 
rated in  some  degree,  the  remembrance  of  the  pre- 
ceding campaign.  The  French  perceiving  the  immi- 
nence of  the  danger,  omitted  no  effort  to  resist  it. 
They  were  commanded  by  a  brave  and  enterprizing 
leader,  and  the  struggle  was  maintained,  on  both  sides, 
with  all  the  activity  and  spirit  of  national  emulation. 
The  expedition  against  Louisburgh,  conducted  by  ge- 
neral Wolfe,  under  many  circumstances  of  disadvan- 
tage, after  an  obstinate  resistance,  and  a  loss  of  six 
hundred  men,  was  crowned  with  success,  and  the 
whole  island  of  Cape  Breton  surrendered  to  the 
English.  The  possession  of  this  place,  as  it  com- 
manded the  access  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  favoured  the 
expedition  against  Quebec  in  the  following  year. 

The  proceedings  against  Crown  Point,  by  general 
Abercrombie,  undertaken  with  an  army  of  sixteen 
thousand  men,  and  with  the  most  favourable  presages 
of  success,  terminated  ingloriously.    In  the  progress 


INTRODUCTION.  Cxlix 

of  his  march,  lord  Howe,  a  young  nobleman  of  bra- 
very and  honor,  being  engaged  in  an  accidental 
skirmish,  received  a  mortal  wound.  His  death  was 
a  serious  loss  to  the  expedition,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  his  virtues,  and  accomplishments,  cast  a 
mournful  gloom  over  it.  The  whole  army  was  soon 
afterwards  led  under  the  walls  of  Ticonderoga,  and 
in  an  obstinate  assault  upon  that  fortress,  was  re- 
pulsed with  the  loss  of  two  thousand  men.  By  this 
fatal  adventure,  the  principal  objects  of  the  expedi- 
tion were  defeated.  A  detachment  being,  however, 
led  with  celerity  against  fort  Frontignac,  the  garri- 
son, thrown  into  trepidation  and  disorder  at  the  un- 
expected approach  of  the  enemy,  surrendered  at  dis- 
cretion; and  the  possession  of  this  fort,  by  its  posiiion 
and  the  military  stores  found  in  it,  made  some  com- 
pensation to  this  division  of  the  army  for  their  pre- 
ceding disasters. 

The  acquisition  of  fort  Du  Quesne  was  the  last, 
though  not  the  least,  important  occurrence  in  the 
military  transactions  of  this  year.  The  troops  em- 
ployed in  this  service,  commanded  by  general  Forbes 
and  colonel  Washington,  amounted  to  eight  thousand 
men.  The  French  garrison,  perceiving  the  inutility 
of  resistance  to  so  great  a  superiority  of  force,  re- 
tired down  the  Ohio  in  the  night,  surrendering  to  the 
enemy  their  post,  without  an  effort  for  the  defence 


Cl  INTRODUCTION. 

of  it.  From  this  fortress,  the  Indians  had  carried 
on,  for  several  years,  against  the  adjacent  provinces 
of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania,  their  de- 
structive warfare,  and  here  received,  from  their  pa- 
trons, the  recompense  of  their  midnight  murders. 
But,  independent  of  all  other  obligations  than  inte- 
rest, and  observing  the  decrease  of  the  French  autho- 
rity, in  these  regions,  all  those  tribes,  who  inhabited 
between  the  Lakes  and  the  Ohio,  courting  the  more 
prosperous  fortunes  of  the  English,  concluded  a 
peace  with  them;  and  approved  their  zeal  and  fide- 
lity to  their  new  masters  by  the  massacre  of  their 
former  friends. 

The  foundations  of  the  French  power  being  thus 
undermined,  by  the  events  of  1753,  a  last  effort  was 
now  made  by  the  English,  and  with  increased  vigor 
and  impetuosity,  to  accomplish  its  total  subversion. 
The  main  force,  under  general  Amherst,  command- 
er in  chief,  was  led  against  Ticonderoga  and  Crown 
Point;  and  these  forts  being  in  a  feeble  state  of  de- 
fence, were  evacuated  at  his  approach.     A  second 
division  of  the  army  under  general  Prideaux  under- 
took the  seige  of  Niagara,  during  which  that  officer 
being  killed  by  the  accidental  explosion  of  a  piece  of 
ordnance,  the  command  devolved  upon  general  John- 
son; and  the  garrison,  consisting  of  six  hundred 
men,  soon  afterwards  surrendered  prisoners  of  war. 


INTRODUCTION.  cli 

After  the  capture  of  these  fortresses,  it  was  design- 
ed, by  the  original  plan  of  the  campaign,  that  these 
two  divisions  of  the  army,  should  co-operate  in  the 
reduction  of  Quebec;  but,  for  reasons  not  well  ascer- 
tained, either  being  content,  in  their  moderate  ambi- 
tion, with  the  innocent  and  bloodless  victories  they 
had  achieved,  or  deterred  by  the  forces  collected  at 
Montreal,  the  officers  wasted  the  rest  of  the  cam- 
paign in  fruitless  and  impotent  adventures;  and  gene- 
ral Wolfe,  who  had  now  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence, 
appeared  alone  in  the  last  scene  and  catastrophe  of 
this  memorable  drama. 

Quebec  was  the  heart  of  the  French  dominions  in 
America,  and  here  all  the  energies  of  their  expiring 
power,  in  this  period  of  consternation  and  disaster, 
had  retired  from  the  extremities.  It  was  deemed, 
both  by  nature,  and  art,  the  most  impregnable  city 
of  the  whole  continent.  On  the  south,  it  was  washed 
by  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  was  protected  on  that  side 
by  fortifications,  which,  by  the  favour  of  the  river, 
were  considered  inaccessible.  On  the  East  it  was 
washed  by  the  St.  Charles,  upon  the  shore  of  which 
was  entrenched,  on  this  occasion,  an  army  of  ten 
thousand  men.  An  ordinary  mind  would  have  re- 
garded the  siege  of  this  place,  with  the  forces  here 
employed  against  it,  as  an  extravagant  and  chimeri- 
cal project;  and  a  pusillanimous  spirit  would  have 


cllV  INTRODUCTION. 

the  impotent  and  futile  projects  of  his  adversary,  was 
now  constrained  to  submit  the  fate  of  Quebec,  and 
of  the  war,  to  the  hazard  of  an  unequal  battle.  With 
a  force  composed,  for  the  most  part,  of  militia  and 
Indians,  inferior  in  numbers  as  well  as  discipline, 
he  marched  out  to  encounter,  upon  their  own  ground, 
an  army  of  veteran  soldiers,  who,  animated  by  the 
successful  temerity  of  their  chief,  and  fired  by  his 
spirit,  now  hurled  the  weapons  of  provocation  and 
defiance.     After  a  fruitless  attempt,  by  his  Indians 
and  Canadian  militia,  to  make  a  diversion  of  the  En- 
glish force,  the  French  commander,  opposed  in  the 
order  of  battle  to  his  formidable  antagonist,  led  on 
his  regular  troops.  They  advanced  with  a  rapid  step 
and  commenced  the  engagement  with  impetuosity 
and  valour.     The  English,  with  a  more  temperate 
courage,  reserving  their  fire,  awaited  the  enemies' 
approach,  and  began  the  charge  with  an  irresistible 
and  destructive  slaughter.    The  action  soon  became 
general,  and  was  sustained  with  all  the  obstinate 
bravery    which  national  antipathies  or  emulation, 
which  despair  or  success  could  inspire.     Montcalm, 
amidst  the  universal  havoc  of  those  legions  who  had 
been  the  companions  of  his  glory  while  they  lived, 
sunk  in  the  heat  of  the  battle.  The  British  general, 
at  the  same  time,  animating  his  men  by  his  presence 
and  example,  fought  with  heroic  courage  amidst 


INTRODUCTION.  civ 

the  fury  of  the  engagement  and  signalized  his  valour 
by  the  forfeit  of  his  life.  When  these  officers  had  dis- 
appeared from  the  scene  of  action,  the  conflict  was 
sustained  with  various  and  doubtful  success,  until 
their  second  in  command  had  likewise  perished. 
The  left  wing  of  the  French  at  last  being  charged 
by  the  bayonet  with  great  violence,  was  thrown  into 
confusion,  and,  after  many  obstinate  struggles  to  re- 
new the  attack,  driven  from  the  field.  The  disor- 
der soon  afterwards  communicated  to  the  centre  and 
to  the  right  wing;  the  rout  became  general,  resist- 
ance ceased,  and  victory  perched  upon  the  banners 
of  Great  Britain. 

In  strength  of  numbers,  and  magnitude  of  slaugh- 
ter, this  battle  holds  but  an  humble  and  subordinate 
station,  amongst  the  splendid  victories  of  the  world; 
but  the  important  consequences  of  it,  the  heroic  spi- 
rit, variety  of  incidents,  and  tragic  dignity  with  which 
the  whole  scene  was  exhibited,  bestow  upon  it  a  live- 
ly interest  with  posterity.  The  two  generals,  who 
had  been  borne  from  the  midst  of  the  conflict,  sur- 
vived just  long  enough  to  witness  the  issue  of  it. 
They  closed  their  mortal  career  with  expressions 
of  joy  and  satisfaction;  the  one,  that  he  had  not  lived 
to  witness  the  humiliation  of  his  defeat;  the  other, 
that  he  died  victoriously.  The  memory  of  the  brave 
Montcalm,  is  preserved  by  his  countrymen  with  af- 


Clvi  INTRODUCTION. 

fection;  with  sympathy  for  his  fate  and  admiration 
of  his  virtues.  The  intrepid  and  indefatigable  Wolfe, 
has  received,  what  he  most  courted  in  his  life,  a  glori- 
ous immortality,  and  stands  preeminent  in  the  short 
list  of  British  heroes,  who  have  adorned  the  annals 
of  the  new  world. 

Quebec  capitulated  to  the  English  army,  and  was 
garrisoned  by  five  thousand  men.  The  French  pow- 
er was  now  in  the  glimmerings  of  extinction;  a  last 
effort  was  nevertheless  made  to  reanimate  the  ex- 
piring flame.  During  the  whole  of  the  following  year, 
a  desultory  warfare  was  carried  on,  which  assumed, 
in  some  instances,  a  sanguinary  character.  Quebec 
was  besieged,  in  its  turn,  by  the  French,  and  the 
English  army  repulsed  before  its  walls,  with  the  loss 
of  one  thousand  men.  But  this  attempt  proving 
abortive,  the  remnants  of  the  French  army,  having 
exhausted  every  means  of  resistance,  stipulating  for 
the  Canadians,  the  enjoyment  of  their  religion  and 
property,  renounced  the  conflict.  On  the  eighth  of 
September  1760,  they  surrendered  to  the  arms  of  his 
Britannic  majesty.  A  definitive  treaty  was  conclud- 
ed, three  years  aferwards,  at  Paris,  by  which  the 
whole  of  the  possessions  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with 
the  exception  of  the  Island  of  Orleans,  was  annexed 
to  the  dominions  of  Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

The  causes  which  produced  immediately  the  Indepen- 
dence of  the  Colonies, 

During  the  first  joy  occasioned  by  the  prosper- 
ous termination  of  the  war  with  France,  much  cor- 
diality subsisted  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
American  subjects;  and  all  those  distrusts  and  animo- 
sities, which  had  so  often  disquieted  their  political 
harmony,  were  for  a  while,  lost  in  mutual  congratu- 
lations. But  avarice  and  ambition,  those  great  de- 
stroyers of  the  wisdom  and  happiness  of  mankind, 
and  which,  at  all  times,  prevailed  in  the  provincial 
government  of  the  mother  country,  even  over  a  sense 
of  her  own  interest,  permitted  but  a  short  triumph 
to  these  benevolent  feelings. 

Two  years  had  not  yet  expired,  since  the  restora- 
tion of  peace,  when  the  colonists,  from  the  midst  of 
their  transient  anticipations  of  a  long  prosperity, 
were  borne  into  the  tumults  of  a  more  solemn  and 
sanguinary  conflict.  In  the  late  war  they  had  fought 


Clviii  INTRODUCTION. 

for  glory  and  for  dominion.  They  were  now  to  con- 
tend for  their  liberty;  to  dissolve  the  ties  of  kindred 
and  of  allegiance,  and  to  vindicate  their  indepen- 
dence by  the  blood  of  a  furious  civil  war.  A  brief 
enumeration  of  the  injuries  and  acts  of  hostility 
which  produced  these  events,  will  complete  the  ob- 
jects of  the  present  introduction. 

The  arms  of  Great  Britain  were,  at  this  pe- 

1764.    . 

riod,  victorious  by  land  and  by  sea.   Her  com- 
mercial power,  which  pervaded  the  extremities  of 
the  globe,  had  kindled  the  jealousy  and  awakened 
the  secret  animosity  of  all  Europe.    This  dangerous 
preeminence,  she  had  acquired,  by  the  expense  of 
immense  treasures,  and  by  the  accumulation  of  a 
debt  of  six  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  An 
extension  of  revenue  was  therefore  required,  to  re- 
lieve her  financial  embarrassments,  to  sustain   the 
magnitude  of  the  empire;  and  no  less  gratify  the  im- 
moderate ambition  of  her  rulers,  which  enflamed  by 
recent  prosperity,  now  grasped  at  the  entire  sove- 
reignty of  the  ocean.     Amongst  the  various  expe- 
dients employed,  on  this  occasion,  the  taxation  of 
the  American  colonies  became  a  favourite  project; 
which,  flattering  the  cupidity  or  the  necessities  of  the 
multitude,  was  sanctioned  by  popular  approbation. 

This  system  was  begun  by  numerous  limitations, 
not  unprecedented,  but  distinguished  for  their  seve- 


INTRODUCTION. 


clix 


rity,  imposed  upon  the  colonial  trade.  "  To  restrain 
illicit  commerce  and  prevent  smuggling,"  the  com- 
manders on  the  coast,  were  converted  into  revenue 
officers;  and,  from  ignorance  or  negligence  of  the 
custom  house  laws,  many  vexatious  seizures  were 
made  by  them.  This  injury  was  encouraged  by 
impunity,  for  redress  could  be  obtained  only  in  the 
courts  of  Great  Britain.  It  was  aggravated  also,  by 
an  appendant  regulation  requiring  that  the  forfeitures 
and  penalties  accruing  under  this  act,  should  be  re- 
covered in  the  courts  of  admiralty,  in  contempt  of 
the  usual  jurisdiction  of  the  provinces. 

From  their  trade  with  the  English,  French  and 
Spanish  West  Indies,  the  colonies  had  derived  a  sup- 
ply of  specie,  which  sufficed  their  domestic  circula- 
tion, enabled  them  to  liquidate  their  debts,  and  in- 
crease their  importations  of  British  goods.  This 
trade,  not  expressly  authorized  by  the  commercial 
laws  of  Great  Britain,  was  first  interrupted  by  these 
new  revenue  officers,  and  soon  afterwards  by  exces- 
sive duties  laid  by  parliament,  equivalent  to  an  entire 
prohibition.  It  was  ordered,  also,  that  these  duties 
should  be  paid  in  silver  or  gold,  and  an  act  was,  at 
the  same  time  passed,  depriving  of  legal  currency, 
all  bills  of  credit,  to  be  afterwards  issued  by  the  colo- 
nies. A  system  of  legislation  no  less  preposterous 
than  tyrannical;  for,  a  revenue  was  demanded  by 


Clx  INTRODUCTION. 

precluding  the  sole  avenues  which  lay  open  for  the 
acquisition  of  it. 

These  injurious  transactions,  which  exposed  the 
whole  commerce  of  America  to  the  rapacity  of  indi- 
viduals, were,  at  length,  consummated  by  the  memo- 
rable stamp  act.  By  this  act,  it  was  designed  that 
bonds,  deeds,  and  other  instruments  of  writing,  to  ac- 
quire a  legal  authority,  should  be  executed  upon 
stamped  paper;  and  upon  this  paper  a  tax,  for  defray- 
ing, it  is  said,  the  expenses  of  the  late  war  in  America, 
was  to  be  levied.  This  bill  was  proposed  by  the  minis- 
ter of  finance,  George  Grenville,  and  was  remitted, 
for  discussion  to  the  next  meeting  of  parliament. 

The  regulations  by  which  the  provincial  commerce 
had  been  previously  fettered,  were  rigorous  and  un- 
warrantable; but,  from  their  early  and  gradual  im- 
position, few  inquiries  had  been  made  upon  the 
origin  or  nature  of  them.  They  had,  indeed,  excit- 
ed discontent,  and,  on  some  occasions,  remonstrance; 
but  were,  for  the  most  part,  tolerated  as  natural  in- 
firmities of  the  constitution,  against  which  it  were 
useless  and  perhaps  impious  to  murmur.  There  was, 
besides,  some  retribution,  however  inadequate  for 
the  loss  of  liberty,  in  the  extensive  trade,  in  the  wealth 
and  dignity  of  Great  Britain;  and  the  navigation  laws 
had  been,  on  many  occasions,  eluded  by  the  negli- 
gence or  connivance  of  the  government.     Taxes 


INTRODUCTION.  clxi 

raised  upon  foreign  commerce,  are  more  than  others 
concealed  from  common  observation;  a  choice  is  also 
left  to  the  subject,  to  accept  or  refuse  the  payment  of 
them.  The  colonists  had  preserved  the  internal  ad- 
ministration of  the  state  exempt,  in  a  great  measure, 
from  foreign  interposition;  and,  where  the  reality  had 
been  lost,  some  image  of  freedom  still  remained.  But 
the  acts  of  the  present  year  were  passed  in  such  rapid 
succession;  executed  with  so  much  rigor,  and  with 
so  profligate  a  disregard  to  the  most  sacred  privi- 
leges of  the  Americans,  as  kindled  an  immediate 
and  universal  alarm. 

The  stamp  act,  especially,  became,  in  private  cir- 
cles, and  public  assemblies,  with  all  ages  and  sexes 
and  conditions,  the  prevailing  subject  of  discussion. 
With  the  natural  propensity  and  ingenuity  of  irritat- 
ed minds,  all  past  transgressions  of  the  British  go- 
vernment, remote,  unnoticed  or  long  since  buried  in 
oblivion,  were  summoned  by  the  Americans  in  aggra- 
vation of  the  present  outrages.  The  persecutions 
by  which  their  forefathers  had  been  exiled  from 
their  native  country;  the  neglect,  the  indignities  and 
injuries  they  had  sustained  during  the  infancy  of  their 
settlements,  from  the  insolence  of  their  governors, 
and  from  the  domineering  ambition  of  the  parli- 
ament; the  rapacious  and  tyrannical  violations  of 

the  freedom  of  commerce,  from  the  fundamental 
vol.  I.  x 


Clxil  INTRODUCTION. 

act  of  navigation  to  the  present  time;  all  these 
were  minutely  and  pathetically  enumerated;  and 
symptoms  of  violent  opposition  were  manifested 
throughout  the  whole  continent.  The  colonial  as- 
semblies, especially  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia, 
addressed  remonstrances  to  the  throne,  and  to  both 
houses  of  parliament;  and  instructions  were  despatch- 
ed to  their  agents,  to  employ  every  effort  in  resist- 
ing the  ambitious  projects  of  the  British  legislature. 

When,  by  the  salutary  improvidence  of  the 
1765.  J  J       F 

parliament,  a  whole  year  had  been  granted 

to  the  colonists,  for  deliberations  which  awakened 
their  vigilance  and  alarmed  their  apprehensions,  the 
stamp  act,  on  the  twenty-second  of  March,  received 
the  sanction  of  a  law.  It  passed  the  house  of  com- 
mons, after  a  display  of  much  argument,  eloquence 
and  sophistry,  by  a  majority  of  two  hundred  votes; 
it  was  approved  with  great  complacency  in  the  house 
of  lords;  and  alleviating,  as  it  wras  supposed,  the  bur- 
thens of  the  British  subjects,  or  involving  others,  at 
least,  in  a  participation  of  their  calamities,  it  was 
promulgated  with  great  joy  throughout  the  whole  na- 
tion. 

The  torch  of  the  revolution  was  now  lighted.  From 
a  tone  of  supplication  or  remonstrance,  the  colonists, 
on  the  intelligence  of  this  event,  assumed  a  threaten- 
ing aspect.     Resolutions  were  immediately  passed. 


INTRODUCTION. 


clxiii 


in  the  assembly  of  Virginia,  asserting  that  the  right 
to  levy  taxes  within  that  province,  belonged  to  its 
legislature,  and  that  any  attempt  to  vest  it  elsewhere, 
was  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and  repugnant  to  the 
liberties  of  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  of  America. 
Private  associations  were  at  the  same  time  organiz- 
ed, assuming  the  appellation  of  the  "  Sons  of  Liber- 
ty;" with  a  regular  correspondence,  and  with  the 
avowed  resolution  of  resisting  the  operations  of  the 
stamp  act.  Others  were  constituted  to  discourage 
the  importation  of  British  goods,  and  to  promote  the 
use  of  domestic  manufactures.  And  a  coat  of  En- 
glish cloth  became,  in  a  short  time,  an  emblem  of 
disgrace,  for  which,  the  proprietor  of  it  was  exposed 
to  insult  and  popular  vengeance. 

Meanwhile,  by  the  circulation  of  violent  essays  in 
pamphlets  and  news  papers,  by  mutual  discussions, 
by  the  harangues  of  patriotic  and  sometimes  sedi- 
tious orators,  by  the  declamations  of  the  pulpit,  the 
multitude  were  enflamed;  and,  according  to  the  eter- 
nal laws  of  popular  enthusiasm,  proceeded  to  acts 
of  disorder  and  outrage. 

Assemblies  of  the  people,  in  riotous  concourse, 
preceded  by  emblematic  images,  with  fierce  excla- 
mations, and  threats  of  violence,  first  paraded  in  the 
streets  of  Boston.  The  fury  soon  spread,  as  a 
contagion,  to  the  other  towns  of  New  England.  Tho 


clxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

officers  for  the  distribution  of  stamps,  who,  to  render 
the  act  less  odious,  were  chosen  from  the  residents 
of  the  colonies,  were  the  special  victims  of  popular 
resentment.  Some,  by  the  clamorous  insults,  threats 
and  maledictions  of  the  mob,  were  forced  to  resign; 
in  many  instances,  dragged  before  a  magistrate,  they 
confirmed  their  resignation  by  an  oath.  Of  others, 
the  effigies  were  borne  in  solemn  procession  through 
the  streets,  and,  after  the  formalities  of  a  trial  and 
condemnation,  hung,  or  strewed  in  the  air  amidst 
the  furious  acclamations  of  the  crowd.  Of  the  most 
offensive  individuals,  when  darkness  or  intoxication 
had  increased  the  audacity  of  the  multitude,  the  win- 
dows were  broken ;  their  houses  were  razed  to  the 
ground,  ransacked,  and  even  the  ruins  of  them  were 
demolished;  that  of  the  governor,  who  was  forced  to 
fly  for  refuge  in  the  night,  was  plundered,  and  the 
public  records  destroyed.  These  unwarrantable  ex- 
cesses were  disapproved  by  the  censure  of  the  gene- 
ral court.  Some  of  the  assailants  were  immediately 
seized,  imprisoned,  and  liberated  by  their  associates. 
A  reward  was  offered  for  their  detection,  and  none 
incurred  the  odium  or  danger  of  their  apprehension. 
The  arrival  of  the  stamps  from  England,  in  the 
course  of  these  proceedings,  exasperated  still  fur- 
ther the  public  temper,  and  provoked  the  irrevoca- 
ble fury  of  the  populace.     The  event  was  announc- 


INTRODUCTION.  clxV 

ed  in  Philadelphia,  where  they  first  landed,  by  de- 
monstrations of  public  mourning.  The  flags  in  the 
harbour  were  placed  at  half  mast.  The  bells  were 
muffled,  and  tolled,  during  the  day,  a  funeral  knell. 

The  city  was  in  commotion,  during  a  whole  week, 
by  the  concourse  and  deliberations  of  the  people. 
Officers  were  compelled  to  declare  their  resignation, 
and  the  most  determined  resistance  was  manifested 
to  the  operations  of  the  stamp  act;  the  quakers 
alone  remaining  unmoved  amid  the  general  uproar 
and  confusion. 

The  first  of  September,  the  day  designated  by  the 
law  for  the  emission  of  the  stamps,  was  commemo- 
rated with  no  less  mournful  solemnity,  and  with 
greater  turbulence,  at  Boston  and  New  York.  In 
the  latter  city,  the  lieutenant  governor,  conducted  with 
the  usual  formalities  of  imprecations  and  insults  to 
the  place  of  execution,  was  hung  in  effigy;  and  after- 
wards burnt,  with  a  portion  of  his  plundered  proper- 
ty, in  a  conflagration  of  the  odious  stamped  paper. 
This  ceremony,  to  provoke  and  to  brave  the  resent- 
ment of  their  adversaries,  was  exhibited  by  the  peo- 
ple, in  the  presence  of  the  gar^on,  and  under  the 
mouths  of  the  British  cannon. 

At  a  convention  of  the  more  sober,  and  not  less 
patriotic  citizens  of  New  York,  to  whom  these  out- 
rageous proceedings  were  odious  and  discreditable. 


Clxvi  INTRODUCTION. 

associations  were  constituted  in  concert  with  those 
already  existing  in  New  England,  and  in  corres- 
pondence with  the  provinces  of  the  south,  which 
moderating  the  headlong  impetuosity  of  the  multi- 
tude, converted  their  factious  enthusiasm  into  a 
more  systematic  and  honourable  opposition.  By  the 
mutual  efforts  of  this  confederacy,  the  operations  of 
the  stamp  act  were  effectually  controlled.  On  the 
day  appointed  for  its  introduction,  scarce  a  rem- 
nant of  the  execrable  and  abhored  paper  was  found 
upon  the  continent  as  a  memorial  of  its  existence. 

At  the  instance  of  Massachusetts,  a  congress  of  de- 
puties, from  most  of  the  states,  were  assembled  on  the 
seventh  of  October,  at  JNew  York.  A  declaration 
of  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  a  detail  of  their  injuries, 
petitions  to  the  king,  and  memorials  to  parliament, 
were  framed  and  published  by  this  assembly.  These 
being  executed  with  much  force  of  argument  and 
eloquence,  and  by  a  body  of  men  so  numerous  and 
respectable,  bestowed  great  authority  and  dignity  as 
well  as  uniformity  upon  the  cause  of  the  opposition; 
and  afforded,  at  the  same  time,  a  model  for  that  ge- 
neral congress,  which  afterwards  conducted  with  so 
much  glory  the  transactions  of  the  war. 

During  the  last  year  the  British  ministry, 
1766.  B  /  . 

the  great  promoters  of  these  commotions 

in  America,  for  reasons  not  well  explained,  were 


INTRODUCTIOIN*.  clxvii 

dismissed  from  office.  The  marquis  of  Rocking- 
ham, a  man  of  approved  virtue,  received  the  place 
of  Mr.  Grenville.  General  Conway,  their  earliest 
and  most  strenuous  advocate,  was  appointed  secre- 
tary of  state  for  the  colonies.  The  other  members 
were  alike  favourable  to  the  same  interests. 

It  was  the  good  fortune  of  the  Americans,  in  this 
glorious  contention  for  their  liberties,  to  enlist  not  only 
the  sympathy  and  benevolence  of  all  Europe  in  their 
favour,  but  the  co-operation,  in  the  British  parlia- 
ment, of  the  most  illustrious  personages  of  their  age. 
Lord  Chatham,  less  a  friend,  perhaps,  to  American 
freedom,  than  eager  for  the  preeminence  of  his  na- 
tive country,  and  hostile  to  the  pernicious  counsels 
of  his  political  adversaries,  defended  the  interests  of 
the  colonies,  with  all  the  force  of  his  unrivalled  elo- 
quence. In  this  he  was  seconded  by  the  immortal 
genius  of  Burke.  There  are  a  few  other  names, 
as  Camden  and  Barre,  revered  in  every  region  to 
which  their  fame  has  extended;  but  from  the  feel- 
ings of  an  American,  they  demand  a  special  tribute 
of  veneration. 

The  first  efforts  of  the  ministry  on  the  meeting  of 
parliament,  was  to  procure  the  revocation  of  the 
stamp  act.  This  measure  produced,  with  the  oppo- 
sition, whose  inclinations  and  honour  were  interested 
in  the  prevention  of  it,  a  fierce  and  memorable  con- 


Clxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

troversy.  The  arguments  and  principles  urged  in 
the  original  production  of  this  law,  were  again  re- 
peated with  all  the  amplifications  of  passion,  in  sup- 
port of  it.  Mr.  Grenville,  especially,  a  shrewd  law- 
yer, and  well  used  in  the  arts  of  disputation,  de- 
fended this  offspring  of  his  follies,  with  a  paternal 
solicitude.  In  an  elaborate  speech,  composed  with 
much  ingenuity  and  sophistry  of  argument,  having 
assumed  the  right  of  taxation  in  the  parliament,  and 
detailed  the  benefits  derived  by  the  colonies,  from 
their  connexion  with  the  British  government,  he  then 
inveighed,  with  pathetic  declamation,  at  their  avarice, 
and  the  ingratitude  of  refusing  this  inadequate  retribu- 
tion, to  the  mother  country,  for  so  frequent  and  pro- 
digal dispensations  of  her  bounties.  He  enumerated 
the  late  riots  and  insurrections,  fomented,  as  he  said, 
by  the  lenity  of  government;  by  the  inflammatory 
speeches,  approbation  or  connivance  of  the  present 
ministers  and  their  adherents.  On  these  grounds, 
therefore,  he  deprecated  the  repeal  of  the  law,  as  a 
measure  fraught  with  calamity  to  the  nation;  as  an 
encouragement  to  rebellion,  and  a  prostration  of  the 
honour  and  dignity  of  parliament  and  majesty  of  the 
British  empire,  at  the  feet  of  an  insolent  and  frantic 
multitude. 

"  It  is  my  opinion,"  replied  Lord  Chatham,  "  that 
this  kingdom  has  no  right  to  lay  a  tax  upon,  the  colo- 


INTRODUCTION.  clxix 

nies.  At  the  same  time  I  assert  the  authority  of  this 
kingdom  to  be  sovereign  and  supreme,  in  every  cir- 
cumstance of  government,  and  legislation  whatever. 
Taxation  is  no  part  of  the  governing  or  legislative 
power.  The  taxes  are  a  voluntary  gift,  and  grant 
of  the  commons  alone.  The  concurrence  of  the 
peers,  and  of  the  crown,  is  necessary  only  as  a  form 
of  law.  This  house  represents  the  commons  of 
Great  Britain.  The  people  of  America,  represented 
in  their  assemblies,  have  inviolably  exercised  this 
constitutional  privilege  of  granting  their  own  money; 
they  would  have  been  slaves,  if  they  had  not  enjoyed  it. 
"  We  are  told  that  America  is  obstinate, — almost  in 
open  rebellion.  I  rejoice  that  America  has  resisted. 
Three  millions  of  people  so  dead  to  all  the  feelings 
of  liberty  as  voluntarily  to  submit  to  be  slaves,  would 
have  been  fit  instruments  to  make  slaves  of  all  the 
rest. 

"  The  honourable  gentleman  boasts  of  his  bounties 
to  America.  Are  not  these  bounties  intended  final- 
ly for  the  benefit  of  this  kingdom?  If  they  are  not 
he  has  misapplied  the  national  treasures.  I  speak 
from  accurate  knowledge,  when  I  say  that  the  pro- 
fit of  Great  Britain,  from  the  trade  of  the  colonies, 
is  two  millions  per  annum.  This  is  the  fund  which 
carried  you  triumphantly  through  the  last  war;  this 
is  the  price  America  pays  for  her  protection. 

VOL.  i.  y 


CIXX  INTRODUCTION. 

"The  Americans  have  been  wronged;  they  have 
been  driven  to  madness  by  injustice.  Will  you  pun- 
ish them  for  the  madness  you  have  occasioned?  No; 
let  this  country  be  the  first  to  resume  its  prudence 
and  temper.  I  will  pledge  myself  for  the  colonies, 
that,  on  their  part,  resentment  and  animosity  will 
cease.  Upon  the  whole,  I  beg  leave  to  tell  the  house 
in  a  few  words  what  is  really  my  opinion.  It  is  that 
the  stamp  act  be  repealed,  absolutely,  totally,  and 
immediately/' 

With  the  authority  and  eloquence  of  William  Pitt, 
other  causes  conspired,  of  no  less  potent  influence  in 
the  determination  of  this  question.  The  merchants,  to 
whom  were  due  at  this  period,  from  the  colonies,  more 
than  two  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  manufacturers, 
many  of  whom,  by  the  interruption  of  the  American 
trade,  being  reduced  to  the  verge  of  ruin,  had  raised 
loud  clamours  in  the  nation,  against  the  stamp  act: 
and  now  were  present  at  the  bar  of  parliament,  with 
petitions,  imploring  the  repeal  of  it.  A  jealousy  of 
the  British  power,  or  admiration  of  the  gallant  spi- 
rit with  which  the  Americans  had  risen  up  against 
the  force  of  a  mighty  empire,  in  vindication  of  their 
freedom,  had  awakened  to  this  subject,  the  attention 
of  all  Europe.  In  England,  from  the  desire  of  popu- 
larity; from  sympathy  in  the  injuries  of  the  colonies, 
or  indignation  at  the  despotic  rigours  of  parliament, 


INTRODUCTION.  clxxi 

violent  parties  were  excited  throughout  the  whole 
kingdom;  and  these  being  animated  by  colloquial  dis- 
putations, and  by  the  political  essays  of  newspapers 
and  pamphlets,  exasperated  the  opposition  and  pro- 
moted the  interests  of  the  ministry. 

Another  incident  not  unworthy  of  relation  condu- 
ced also  to  the  same  object.  Benjamin  Franklin, 
whose  public  writings  and  intercourse  with  influen- 
tial individuals,  had  already  promoted  the  cause  of 
his  countrymen  in  London,  was  summoned  to  ap- 
pear for  examination  before  the  house  of  commons. 
To  witness  this  scene  the  galleries  were  crowd- 
ed with  spectators,  who  had  flocked  in  partly  to 
enjoy  the  humiliation  of  a  rebel;  many,  from  an 
idle  curiosity;  and  a  few,  from  veneration  of  his  ta- 
lents and  virtues;  some  also  were  impatient  to  see  a 
patriot  contend  for  the  liberties  of  his  country,  for 
the  most  sacred  principles  of  the  English  consti- 
tution, and  for  the  dearest  privileges  of  mankind. 
The  calm,  the  unmoved  dignity  with  which  he  ap- 
peared before  this  august  council,  in  the  midst  of 
an  imposing  and  attentive  multitude,  and  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  most  distinguished  personages  of  his 
age;  the  pertinence  of  his  replies,  and  the  force  of 
his  reasoning,  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the  feel- 
ings of  the  audience,  and  had  no  humble  agency 
in  promoting,  on  this  occasion,  the  interests  of  his 


Clxxii  INTRODUCTION. 

country.  Posterity  will  not  be  indifferent  to  the 
ashes  of  this  great  man.  It  will  no  doubt  be  remem- 
bered with  admiration,  and  perhaps  with  regret,  that, 
amidst  the  pride  and  princely  magnificence  of  a  court, 
a  mechanic  of  Pennsylvania  extorted  the  veneration 
of  kings,  and,  in  the  plain  robes  of  republican  sim- 
plicity, awed  into  respect  the  insolence  of  their  satel- 
lites. 

The  question  was  now  put  and  the  stamp  act  was 
repealed — it  was  repealed,  that  monument  of  tyran- 
ny, infatuation  and  ignorance;  but  the  secret  rancour 
of  the  heart,  the  humiliated  pride,  the  insatiate  ava- 
rice, the  spirit  of  domination  and  revenge,  were  not 
repealed.    The  joyful  news,  with  many  expressions 
of  congratulation,  was  transmitted  by  general  Con- 
way to  America;  and  to  inspire  a  just  sense  of  the 
vast  obligation,  the  colonists  were  reminded,  in  many 
words  of  "  the  moderation,  the  forbearance,  the  un- 
exampled lenity  and  tenderness  of  the  parliament  to- 
wards them;"  it  was  hoped  also  that  a  respectful  grati- 
tude and  cheerful  obedience  to  the  legislative  author- 
ity of  Great  Britain  would  be  the  effects  of  so  much 
grace  and  condescension  on  the  part  of  his  majesty. 
The  joy  occasioned  amongst  the  Americans  at 
the  revocation  of  this  act,  was  equal  to  the  rage 
with  which  they  had  opposed  the  execution  of  it. 
In  the  province  of  Virginia,  no  less  distinguished 


INTRODUCTION.  clxxiii 

for  loyalty,  than  love  of  liberty,  it  was  immoderate 
and  universal.  In  the  first  transports  of  the  legisla- 
ture, a  statue  was  voted  to  the  king,  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  tender  mercies;  and  to  those  illustrious 
individuals  who  had,  with  so  much  ardour  and  elo- 
quence, defended  their  interests  in  parliament,  an 
obelisk  was  to  be  erected  as  a  testimony  of  their  eter- 
nal gratitude.  William  Pitt,  for  his  explicit  approba- 
tion of  their  resistance,  became  a  special  object  of 
veneration.  The  pious  republicans  of  New  England, 
who  usually  refered  their  felicities  to  the  immediate 
bounty  of  heaven,  paid  also,  on  this  occasion,  their 
principal  honours  to  these  terrestrial  divinities. 

But  how  transitory  was  the  dominion  of  these  gra- 
cious feelings;  the  clamorous  voice  of  discord  was 
heard  even  amidst  the  harmony  of  their  felicitations. 
The  odious  restrictions  upon  commerce  still  subsist- 
ed. The  repeal  of  the  stamp  act  was  accompanied 
by  a  declaratory  resolution,  asserting  the  right  of 
parliament,  "  to  bind  the  colonies  in  all  cases  what- 
soever;" by  an  injunction  that  all  injuries  of  indivi- 
duals, sustained  in  the  execution  of  the  late  law, 
should  be  compensated  by  the  colonies;  and  finally, 
by  the  revival  of  a  former  regulation,  whereby  they 
were  required  to  prepare  barracks,  and  certain 
provisions  for  his  majesty's  forces,  which  it  might 
be  necessary  to  station  in  America.   This  was  called 


clxxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

the  mutiny  act,  and  was  not  less  odious  and  tyran- 
nical than  any  of  its  predecessors.     Very  animated 
controversies  arose,   therefore,    on  the  subject  of 
these  laws  with  the  governor  of  New  York,  which 
spread  afterwards  to  Massachusetts.  This  soon  pro- 
duced a  reaction  in  England,  and  a  triumph  to  the 
defeated  partizans  of  the  stamp  act.     Now  it  was 
asserted,  with  bitter  sarcasm  against  the  ministry, 
that  the  Americans  were  a  factious  and  ungovern- 
able race  of  people;  that  forbearance,  instead  of 
mitigating  their  spirit  of  turbulence,  had  rendered 
them  still  more  audacious,  insolent  and  rebellious; 
that  no  other  course  remained  but  to  apply  those 
measures  of  severity,  which  former  moderation  and 
concessions  had  rendered  indispensable.  These  sen- 
timents soon  prevailed  throughout  the  nation,  and  it 
was  resolved  to  overawe  by  force,  those  whom  gentle 
means  had  failed  to  correct;  but,  the  application  was 
too  late.     The  same  blast  which  extinguishes  the 
taper,  kindles  the  volcano  into  flame. 

An  administration  less  pacific  and  subservient 
1767.       ,..  *  ,        ,     . 

to  the  interests  of  the  colonies  was  required. 

The  duke  of  Grafton  was,  accordingly,  made  secre- 
tary of  the  treasury;  the  earl  of  Shelburn,  secretary 
of  state,  Charles  Townsend,  chancellor  of  the  exche- 
quer, and,  finally,  William  Pitt,  keeper  6f  the  seals. 
The  latter  had  been  recently  created  viscount  Pin- 


INTRODUCTION. 


clxxv 


cent  and  earl  of  Chatham,  and  having  reached  the 
extremity  of  old  age,  was  prevented,  by  his  infirmi- 
ties, from  an  effectual  opposition  to  the  councils  of 
his  colleagues.  A  bill  was  immediately  brought  for- 
ward and  passed^  with  little  opposition,  under  the 
auspices  of  Mr.  Townsend,  imposing  a  duty  upon  tea, 
glass,  colours,  and  other  articles  imported  from  Eng- 
land to  the  colonies.  The  fund  arising  from  these  du- 
ties, was  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  parliament,  to 
be  used  in  defraying  the  expenses  of  the  administra- 
tion in  America.  From  which  the  governor  and 
judges  were  especially  to  receive  their  salaries,  and 
were  thereby  rendered  subservient  to  the  ministry, 
and  independent  of  the  colonial  legislatures.  To  col- 
lect this  revenue,  "  a  permanent  administration  of 
the  customs/'  created  by  act  of  parliament,  was  at 
the  same  time  established  at  Boston;  and  thus,  as  it 
were  to  render  the  other  acts  of  their  selfish  and 
mischievous  ambition  the  more  odious,  a  luxurious 
and  ravenous  tribe  of  financiers  and  tax  gatherers, 
were  set  loose  among  a  people  accustomed  to  a  labo- 
rious life,  to  riot  upon  the  hard  savings  of  their  fru- 
gality and  industry. 

The  temper  of  the  colonies,  by  their  recent  con- 
tentions, and  by  the  rapaciousness  and  insolence 
of  the  British  governors,  had  become  irritable  and 
suspicious;  the  people  had  acquired  also,  in  their 


clx\\i  INTRODUCTION. 

discussions,  more  accurate  notions  of  their  privi- 
leges, and  more  generous  and  exalted  sentiments  of 
liberty;  some  perhaps,  disdainful  of  the  ignominy  of 
provincial  subjection  to  an  authority  situated  at  the 
distance  of  one  thousand  leagues,  or  anticipating  a 
more  noble  destination  for  their  country,  already  as- 
pired to  the  glory  and  distinction  of  independence. 
The  imposition  of  these  duties,  which,  at  an  earlier 
period,  might  have  been  suffered,  if  not  without  mur- 
muring, at  least  without  a  violent  opposition,  was 
treated  as  a  dangerous  and  intolerable  encroachment 
upon  their  privileges;  and  the  dependence  of  the  royal 
governors,  from  the  earliest  connexion  with  Great 
Britain,  was  deemed  indispensable  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  liberties.  It  was  now  remembered, 
that  in  Massachusetts,  whilst  Canada  yet  remained 
in  possession  of  France;  when,  by  the  vicinity  of  a 
restless  enemy  and  her  influence  over  the  savages, 
their  ancestors  were  kept  in  perpetual  alarm  and  oc- 
cupation, they  had  nevertheless  asserted  the  right  of 
self  taxation,  and  even  then  opposed  with  triumphant 
success  all  efforts  of  the  British  government,  to  estab- 
lish over  them  the  independence  of  these  regal  offi- 
cers; few  were,  therefore,  found  at  the  present  time, 
willing  to  encounter  the  everlasting  infamy  of  a  sub- 
mission, in  the  vigour  of  manhood,  and  confidence  of 
strength,  to  usurpations  which  their  generous  fore- 


INTRODUCTION.  clxXVli 

fathers,  environed  by  dangers,  and  in  the  weakness 
of  their  minority,  had  resisted  with  spirit  and  indig- 
nation. With  these  principles  of  combustion  we  may 
easily  conceive  that  the  passions  of  the  people  of 
America,  were  kindled,  on  the  publication  of  the 
late  laws,  to  a  violent  and  dangerous  conflagration. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  assembly  of  Massachu 

&      .  J  1768. 

setts,  a  letter  detailing  the  motives  and  rea- 
sons of  the  opposition  to  the  late  acts,  was  trans- 
mitted to  their  agent  in  England;  others  were  ad- 
dressed to  the  principal  members  of  parliament;  and, 
finally,  a  circular  was  communicated  to  the  general 
assemblies  of  the  other  provinces,  recapitulating 
their  privileges,  stating  their  grievances,  and  invok- 
ing the  co-operation  of  all  the  states  in  resistance  to 
the  usurpations  which  had  been  practised  upon  their 
natural  and  constitutional  liberties. 

These  transactions  gave  great  umbrage  to  the  ad- 
ministration in  England,  and  were  treated,  in  a  let- 
ter from  the  earl  of  Hillsborough  to  the  provincial 
governors,  as  factious  and  insolent;  tending  to  inflame 
the  minds  of  his  majesty's  good  subjects,  to  promote 
unwarrantable  combinations,  and  subvert  the  true 
principles  of  the  British  constitution.  In  confor- 
mity with  instructions  from  the  crown,  the  house  of 
representatives  was  required,  by  the  governor,  "to 

rescind  the  resolutions  which  gave  birth  to  the  cir- 
vol.  i.  z 


Clxxviii  INTRODUCTION. 

cular  letter,  and  to  declare  their  disapprobation  of 
that  rash  and  hasty  proceeding." 

The  question  being  put  to  the  house,  after  much 
irritating  discussion  with  the  governor,  was  deter- 
mined in  the  negative.  The  resolution  was  then 
transmitted,  with  a  letter,  stating  the  motives  of  the 
refusal;  on  the  reception  of  which,  the  assembly, 
according  to  the  instructions  of  the  British  govern- 
ment, was  dissolved  by  proclamation. 

This  altercation  was  conducted  with  temperance 
and  dignity  on  the  part  of  the  court,  but  with  a  una- 
nimous and  determined  spirit.  The  passions  of  the 
people  were  in  some  instances  exasperated  to  ac- 
tions of  outrage.  Without  enthusiasm  nothing  great 
or  glorious  is  achieved  by  mortals,  and  popular  en- 
thusiasm is  rarely  limited  by  the  rules  of  discretion. 
A  vessel  of  John  Hancock,  an  eminent  citizen  of 
Boston,  was  seized  by  the  commissioners  of  the 
customs;  by  this  transaction  a  violent  uproar  was 
excited  throughout  the  whole  city.  The  officers  and 
their  assistants  were  pursued,  beaten,  and  forced 
to  take  refuge  aboard  a  vessel  of  war  then  in  the 
harbour.  The  boat  of  the  collector  was  taken,  and 
burnt  with  triumph  by  a  tumultuous  assemblage  of 
the  people,  who  patrolled  the  streets  till  a  late  hour 
of  the  night. 


INTRODUCTION.  dxxix 

Orders  had  already  been  given  to  general  Gage, 
for  introducing  into  the  province  a  military  force,  as 
a  protection  to  the  collectors  of  the  revenue,  and  the 
late  riot  was  made  a  pretext  for  hastening  that  fatal 
proceeding.  A  committee  was  deputed,  in  a  town 
meeting,  to  the  governor  to  obtain  information  on 
this  subject,  and  to  solicit  a  convocation  of  the  gene- 
ral court;  which  being  rejected,  an  assembly  of  de- 
puties from  the  whole  province  was  immediately 
convened;  and  resolutions  were  passed  "  that  as  there 
was  some  probability  of  a  war  with  France,  all  the 
inhabitants  should  provide  themselves  with  a  com- 
plete military  equipment,  according  to  law."  They 
were,  however,  soon  interrupted  by  the  approach  of 
the  troops.  Two  regiments,  commanded  by  colonel 
Dalrymple,  had  now  arrived,  under  convoy,  in  the 
harbour.  The  council  was  required  by  the  gover- 
nor to  provide  quarters  for  them  in  the  city.  It  was 
refused.  They  were  then  landed  under  cover  of 
their  ships,  and  marched  with  loaded  muskets,  fixed 
bayonets,  a  train  of  artillery,  and  with  all  the  impos- 
ing solemnity  of  military  parade,  to  the  centre  of  the 
city.  Quarters  were  again  demanded  and  refused. 
The  main  guard,  with  two  field  pieces,  was  there- 
fore stationed  in  front  of  the  state  house,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  regiments,  by  the  order  of  the 
governor,  occupied  that  building.     Thus,  the  cham- 


clxXX  INTRODUCTION. 

ber  of  representatives  became  a  garrison  of  foreign 
troops.  The  counsels  of  state  were  overawed  by 
the  presence  of  armed  soldiers;  the  streets  were  fill- 
ed with  tents;  the  citizens  were  constrained  in  their 
occupations  and  enjoyments,  and  often  insulted  by  the 
guard;  their  divine  service,  too,  was  interrupted  by 
military  music. 

In  England  all  orders  of  the  state  were  now 
1769.  &       .  ;  . 

unanimous  in  asserting  the  sovereignty  ot  par- 
liament. In  joint  resolutions,  both  houses  expressed 
their  abhorrence  of  the  seditious  spirit  of  the  pro- 
vinces, and  their  approbation  of  his  majesty's  mea- 
sures for  the  restoration  of  order,  with  the  assurance 
of  their  support  in  the  execution  of  the  laws.  They 
solicited  the  king,  at  the  same  time,  to  obtain  from  the 
governors,  information  of  the  treasons,  and  the  names 
of  the  persons  most  active  in  promoting  such  offences, 
within  the  colony  of  Massachusetts.  These  threats 
were  directed  exclusively  against  this  province,  that 
others  might  be  deterred  from  an  imitation  of  her 
example.  But  the  assembly  of  Virginia,  irritated  by 
the  invidious  distinction,  and  eager  to  merit  a  share 
of  the  threatened  parliamentary  vengeance,  now 
passed  resolutions,  asserting  that  their  right  as  Brit- 
ish subjects,  entitled  them,  at  all  times,  to  petition 
for  redress  of  in  juries,  and  to  solicit,  when  necessary, 
the  concurrence  of  the  other  colonies  in  the  accom- 


INTRODUCTION.  clxxxi 

plishment  of  their  object;  and  deprecating  the  ini- 
quitous resolution  of  parliament,  of  transporting  be- 
yond sea,  American  subjects  for  trial,  and  thereby 
depriving  them  of  their  most  inestimable  privileges, 
of  a  jury  from  their  vicinage,  and  of  producing 
witnesses  in  their  defence.  A  petition  was  at  the 
same  time  addressed  to  the  king,  urging  the  same 
arguments  and  supplicating  from  his  royal  interces- 
sion and  paternal  bounty,  a  mitigation  of  the  intole- 
rable evils  which  threatened  the  happiness  and  liber- 
ty of  the  country. 

The  governor,  fearing  the  contagious  effect  of 
these  proceedings  upon  the  people,  abruptly  dissolv- 
ed the  assembly.  The  members  retired  to  a  private 
house,  and  continued  their  deliberations.  A  resolu- 
tion  was  passed,  signed  by  all  the  members  and 
subscribed  by  the  people  throughout  the  province, 
to  discourage  the  use  of  foreign  merchandise,  and 
prohibit  entirely  the  use  of  tea.  The  same  measure, 
already  observed  in  New  England,  was  now  gradual- 
ly adopted  in  the  other  provinces.  The  women,  with 
a  generous  patriotism,  renounced  all  their  ornaments 
of  British  manufacture,  and  dressed  in  the  rude  pro- 
duce of  their  own  looms.  The  names  of  all  those  who 
departed  from  the  principles  of  this  association  were 
published  in  the  public  prints,  as  the  enemies  of  their 
country. 


clxXXii  INTRODUCTION. 

The  general  court  of  Massachusetts  was  convened 
to  obtain  the  necessary  appropriation  for  the  support 
of  government.  The  members  refused  to  consult, 
as  long  as  the  freedom  of  their  deliberations  was  vio- 
lated by  the  presence  of  an  armed  force.  They  re- 
quired the  removal  of  the  ships  from  the  harbour, 
and  of  the  garrison  from  the  town,  as  a  preliminary 
to  further  proceedings.  To  obviate  this  objection  the 
governor  transferred  the  assembly  to  Cambridge; 
which  artifice  only  increased  their  dissentions.  En- 
tertaining, therefore,  no  hope  of  accomplishing  his 
object,  and  to  avoid  fruitless  discussions  the  court 
was  prorogued. 

A  change  in  the  administration  produced  at  length 
a  determination  of  repealing,  at  the  succeeding  ses- 
sion of  parliament,  all  the  duties  except  that  on  tea. 
This  capricious  policy  had  no  effect  in  mitigating 
the  incensed  feelings  of  the  colonies;  for,  it  served 
only  to  indicate  more  conspicuously  the  tenacity  with 
which  the  parliament  adhered  to  the  principle  of 
supremacy,  which  now  constituted  the  sole  grounds 
of  the  altercation. 

The  fifth  of  March  of  this  year,  is  memorable 
1770.     .  J 

for  the  massacre  of  Boston.     The  insolence 

of  the  British  soldiery,  who  had  been  taught  to  con- 
sider the  inhabitants  of  this  country  in  a  state  of 
barbarism  or  rebellion,   and   the   detestation  with 


INTRODUCTION.  clxxx'lii 

which  these  instruments  of  tyranny  were,  on  the 
other  hand,  viewed  by  the  citizens,  had  produced  a 
succession  of  insults  and  injuries;  and  their  animo- 
sities, in  the  present  instance,  being  exasperated  by 
mutual  provocation,  burst  out  into  open  affray.  A 
party  of  the  king's  troops,  under  the  orders  of  captain 
Preston,  either  animated  to  fury  by  their  antagonists, 
who  assailed  them,  it  is  said,  with  ice,  and  snow  balls, 
and  mud,  or  instigated  by  a  dastardly  resentment, 
fired  upon  the  unarmed  multitude.  Five  were  se- 
verely wounded,  some  others  slightly,  and  three  fell 
dead  upon  the  spot.  The  alarm  bells  were  rung, 
and  the  whole  city  was  thrown  into  immediate  con- 
sternation. The  troops,  by  the  interposition  of  in- 
fluential individuals,  and  by  the  assurance  of  the  go- 
vernor that  the  laws  should  be  enforced  against  the 
offenders,  escaped  from  the  infuriated  rage  of  the 
populace.  After  some  opposition  from  the  governor, 
they  were,  the  next  day,  removed  in  consequence  of 
the  solicitations,  importunities  and  threats  of  the 
people,  without  the  precincts  of  the  city. 

This  being  the  first  blood  shed  during  these  un- 
happy contentions,  it  produced  an  universal  alarm; 
and,  more  than  any  occurrence  of  the  war,  left  a 
profound  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  Bosto- 
nians.  On  the  eighth  of  March,  the  obsequies  of 
the  dead  were  celebrated  with  the  most  mournful 


clxXXiv  INTRODUCTION. 

demonstrations  of  funeral  solemnity;  by  a  suspension 
of  all  public  occupations;  by  the  tolling  of  bells  in 
Boston  and  the  neighbouring  towns;  by  processions 
moving  in  sadness  towards  the  place  of  sepulture, 
where,  in  the  midst  of  an  immense  multitude,  in  pro- 
found silence,  and  with  all  the  indications  of  extreme 
grief  and  compassion,  the  bodies  were  deposited  in 
the  tomb. 

The  trial  of  captain  Preston,  and  of  the  rest  termi- 
nated in  their  acquital;  two  only  being  found  guilty 
of  unpremeditated  homocide.  And  thus  the  majes- 
ty of  the  laws  triumphed  over  the  sentiments  of  popu- 
lar resentment  and  indignation. 

Few  events  occurred,  during  the  two  preced- 
ing years,  worthy  of  commemoration.  The 
Gaspee,  an  armed  schooner,  stationed  at  Providence 
to  enforce  the  navigation  laws,  had  been  boarded  by 
the  inhabitants  and  burnt;  and  five  hundred  pounds 
offered  as  a  reward  for  the  apprehension  of  the  offen- 
ders, produced  no  discovery.  A  tidesman,  in  the  act 
of  detaining  a  vessel,  in  obedience  to  the  late  laws, 
had  been  stripped  and  exposed  in  the  streets  of  Bos- 
ton besmeared  with  tar  and  covered  with  feathers, 
to  the  contempt,  to  the  insults  or  pity  of  the  people. 
Committees  of  correspondence  had  also  been  consti- 
tuted in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  whose  reciprocal 
communications,  joined  with  the  collision  and  aspe- 


INTRODUCTION.  clxXXV 

rity  of  popular  discussions  throughout  the  other  pro- 
vinces, and  with  the  many  political  essays  that  were 
written  with  great  abilities  of  argument  and  warmth 
of  eloquence,  and  distributed  amongst  the  people, 
had  retained  the  public  mind  in  a  high  state  of  irri- 
tation. 

Several  letters  to  the  department  of  state  in  En- 
gland, from  governor  Hutchinson  and  lieutenant 
governor  Oliver,  were  in  this  year,  discovered  mys- 
teriously by  doctor  Franklin,  and  transmitted  to  the 
assembly  of  Massachusetts.  These  letters  repre- 
sented the  opposition  in  America  scornfully.  It  was 
described  as  a  petty  faction,  nourished  only  by  im- 
punity and  by  the  lenient  measures  that  had  been 
used  for  the  suppression  of  it.  They  recommended 
an  entire  alteration  of  the  colonial  charters,  and  es- 
pecially that  the  governors  and  judges  should  receive 
their  salaries  of  the  crown. 

This  correspondence  diffused  in  the  public  prints 
throughout  the  provinces,  afforded  fresh  aliments  to 
the  flames  of  discord  and  resentment. 

To  counteract  the  resolutions  of  the  colonies  against 
the  importation  and  use  of  tea,  which  deprived  the 
British  government  of  an  important  revenue,  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  introduce  that  article  by  the  in- 
strumentality of  the  East  India  company.     By  an 

act  of  parliament,  all  teas  were  first  exempted  from 
vol.  i.  a  a 


dxXXVi  INTRODUCTION. 

the  usual  duties  of  exportation,  and  large  shipments 
were  made,  and  factors  employed,  in  the  American 
ports,  to  receive  them.  No  sooner  was  the  arrival 
of  these  vessels  made  known,  than  the  people  assem- 
bled in  various  places  throughout  the  whole  conti- 
nent, and  in  the  commercial  cities,  took  measures  to 
prevent  their  landing.  In  Charleston,  after  a  violent 
opposition,  the  teas  were  debarked  and  rotted  in  the 
cellars  of  the  consignees.  In  Pennsylvania,  the  agents 
were  constrained  by  the  menaces  of  the  people  to 
resign.  In  Boston,  the  inhabitants  collected  in  a 
vast  concourse  in  a  "  town  meeting,"  resolved  "  that 
the  tea  shall  not  be  landed,  and  that  no  duty  shall 
be  paid."  This  resolution  was  voted  with  acclama- 
tions and  other  symptoms  of  popular  excitement.  At 
the  dissolution  of  the  assembly  an  immense  crowd 
repaired  to  the  harbour,  where  about  twenty  persons, 
in  the  disguise  of  Mohawk  Indians,  went  aboard  the 
vessels,  broke  open  the  chests  in  which  the  tea  was 
contained,  and  strewed  the  contents  of  them  upon 
the  surface  of  the  ocean.  Without  further  injury, 
they  suddenly  disappeared,  and  the  spectators  retired 
in  silence  to  their  habitations. 

At  the  news  of  this  outrage,  the  national  pride 
1774.  &  '  f 

of  Great  Britain  was  kindled.  All  orders  of 
the  state  were  clamorous  for  revenge;  soldiers,  citi- 
zens, nobility,  and  rabble.     The  proceedings  were 


INTRODUCTION.  clxXXVU 

transmitted  in  a  message  from  the  crown.  The  par- 
liament rung  with  bursts  of  indignation,  and  the 
uplifted  hand  of  vengeance  fell  upon  the  devoted  town 
of  Boston. 

A  bill  was  brought  in  by  the  prime  minister,  Lord 
North,  called  the  "  Boston  port  bill,"  to  discontinue 
the  landing  or  shipping  of  any  goods,  wares  or  mer- 
chandise whatsoever  at  the  harbour  of  that  city.  A 
bill  for  the  "  regulating  of  the  province"  then  suc- 
ceeded, by  which  its  charter  was  subverted.  The 
nomination  of  the  magistrates  and  council  was  vested 
in  the  crown,  and  offices  were  made  to  subsist  during 
royal  pleasure. 

An  act  was  likewise  passed  "for  the  impartial 
administration  of  justice,"  which  ordained  that  any 
person  indicted  for  homicide  or  other  capital  offences 
committed  in  aiding  the  magistrates  in  the  execution 
of  the  laws,  might  be  sent  by  the  governor  to  any 
other  colony,  or  to  England,  if  necessary,  for  trial. 
This  was  followed  by  an  act  which  authorized  the 
quartering  soldiers  in  the  houses  of  the  citizens;  and 
lastly,  by  the  Quebec  bill,  which  granted  to  catholics 
an  equal  participation  in  the  dignities  of  the  state, 
and  to  the  inhabitants  the  privilege  of  the  French 
laws;  established  a  legislative  council  invested  with 
arbitrary  power,  and  extended  the  limits  of  the  pro- 
vince, so  as  to  comprehend  the  territory  between  the 


dxXXViii  INTRODUCTION. 

lakes,  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi;  and  thus  by  increas- 
ing the  dominions,  securing  the  fidelity  and  subordi- 
nation of  this  colony,  they  procured  a  place  of  de- 
barkation for  troops  and  munitions  of  war,  and  aug- 
mented the  influence  and  facilities  of  the  royal  party 
in  America. 

Such  were  the  laws  produced  by  the  ministerial 
councils  of  lord  North,  to  whose  infatuation,  and  that 
of  lord  Bute,  — for  he  too  was  a  counsellor  of  the  king, 
— not  less  than  to  the  generous  zeal  of  their  advocates, 
or  to  their  own  virtues,  were  the  colonists  indebted 
for  the  acquisition  of  their  freedom  and  indepen- 
dence. On  the  arrival  of  the  news  of  the  port  bill 
at  Boston,  an  assembly  of  the  people  was  immediate- 
ly convened.  A  resolution  was  passed  in  which  they 
appealed  to  the  Divinity,  and  to  the  world,  against  the 
injustice  and  inhumanity  of  Great  Britain,  and  ex- 
horted the  other  colonies  to  unite  in  opposition  to 
these  rigorous  violations  of  their  common  liberty. 
The  same  sentiments  were  reciprocated  by  the  other 
provinces.  By  the  legislature  of  Virginia,  the  first 
of  June,  on  which  the  port  bill  was  to  commence  its 
operations,  was  set  apart  as  a  day  of  fasting,  humi- 
liation and  prayer,  to  implore  the  interposition  of 
heaven  in  averting  the  calamities  which  threatened 
the  destruction  of  their  freedom,  and  the  evils  of  a 
civil  war.     But  the  governor,  fearing  the  effect  of 


INTRODUCTION.  clxxxix 

their  pious  resolution,  dissolved  the  assembly.  The 
members  then  formed  themselves  into  a  private  as- 
sociation, and  continued  their  consultations;  the  most 
important  was  the  proposal  of  a  general  congress  to 
deliberate  upon  their  common  interests.  The  as- 
sembly of  Massachusetts  had  been  adjourned  to  meet 
at  Salem,  where  general  Gage,  the  present  governor, 
offended  by  the  violence  of  their  proceedings,  sent 
his  secretary  to  dissolve  them.  The  doors  were  shut, 
and  the  order  of  dissolution  was  read  aloud  upon  the 
stair  case. 

The  members  then  formed  a  society,  in  imitation 
of  those  which  prevailed  in  England  during  the  civil 
war,  under  the  title  of  a  "  league  and  covenant,"  in 
which  they  obligated  themselves,  in  the  presence  of 
the  supreme  Being,  to  suspend  all  intercourse  with 
Great  Britain  until  the  obnoxious  laws  were  repeal- 
ed. This  league,  by  a  proclamation  of  the  governor, 
was  declared  to  be  a  traitorous  and  criminal  combi- 
nation contrary  to  the  allegiance  due  to  their  sover- 
eign. The  declaration,  on  the  other  hand,  was  pro- 
nounced by  the  people,  to  be  itself,  an  illegal  and 
tyrannical  encroachment  upon  one  of  the  most  essen- 
tial privileges  of  British  subjects,  that  of  consulting 
together  for  the  preservation  of  their  liberties.  The 
operations  of  the  civil  government  under  the  new 
system  were  every  where  interrupted,  by  the  fury  of 


CXC  INTRODUCTION. 

the  enraged  populace,  who  forced  the  magistrates  to 
resign  or  suspend  the  functions  of  their  office,  and 
crowding  around  the  hall  of  justice,  impeded  the 
entrance  of  the  court,  declaring,  with  threatening 
looks  and  expressions,  that  they  recognized  no  other 
authority  than  the  ancient  laws  and  usages  of  their 
country;  and  to  none  else  would  they  submit. 

The  first  day  of  June  having  arrived,  the  whole 
continent  presented  an  uninterrupted  scene  of  sad- 
ness and  mourning;  the  occupations  of  the  field, 
and  the  activities  of  commerce,  except  among  the 
quakers  of  Philadelphia,  ceased;  pulpits  resounded 
with  prayers,  and  the  bells  of  every  city  rung  the 
funeral  knell.  Copies  of  the  late  acts  of  parliament, 
printed  upon  mourning  paper,  with  black  borders 
and  other  emblematic  figures  were  dispersed  among 
the  people;  and  in  some  places  burnt,  in  solemn  cere- 
mony, by  the  assembled  multitude. 

The  inhabitants  of  Boston,  by  the  entire  suspen- 
sion of  trade,  being  destitute  of  occupation  sunk  from 
the  height  of  prosperity  to  sudden  and  deplorable 
distress.  They  did  not,  however,  in  the  hour  of  tri- 
bulation, forget  the  heroic  courage  and  resignation 
of  their  forefathers.  They  were  encouraged,  indeed, 
by  the  most  powerful  incentives  to  human  fortitude, 
that  of  suffering  for  the  general  interests  of  mankind, 
and  for  the  liberty  of  their  country.    With  the  assu- 


INTRODUCTION.  CXC1 

ranee  of  divine  approbation,  they  derived  from  the 
sympathy  of  their  compatriots  and  the  friends  of 
freedom  in  every  corner  of  the  globe,  from  a  confi- 
dence of  the  everlasting  fame  and  gratitude  of  pos- 
terity, a  consolation  even  beyond  what  martyrs  feel, 
who  die  for  their  holy  religion . 

The  other  cities  and  provinces,  contrary  to  the 
illiberal  hopes  of  the  British  ministry,  did  not  seek 
to  profit  by  the  calamities  of  the  Bostonians.  The 
neighbouring  towns  of  Marblehead  and  Salem,  offer- 
ed them  the  use  of  their  ports,  wharves  and  ware- 
houses, gratuitously;  from  more  distant  places,  they 
received  daily,  the  most  sympathetic  expressions  of 
encouragement  and  condolence,  and  pecuniary  aid, 
which  however  inadequate  to  the  relief  of  their  dis- 
tresses, was  not  ungenerously  contributed. 

Meanwhile,  all  the  measures  of  the  British  go- 
vernment tended  to  increase  the  existing  animosities, 
and  accelerate  the  moment  of  hostilities.  Two  re- 
giments of  infantry  were  landed  by  general  Gage, 
and  quartered  in  Boston;  they  were  gradually  rein- 
forced by  others  from  Ireland,  Halifax  and  New 
York;  and  to  impede,  if  necessary,  the  communica- 
tion of  Boston  with  the  surrounding  country,  these 
troops  were  employed  in  fortifying  the  isthmus  which 
connects  the  peninsula,  on  which  that  city  is  built, 
with  the  continent.  The  military  stores  of  the  pro- 


CXC11  INTRODUCTION. 

vincial  magazines  at  Charlestown  were  seized  and 
transported  to  Boston.  At  this  outrage  the  whole 
country  was  in  sudden  alarm.  In  Massachusetts  the 
people  were  restrained  with  great  difficulty  from  acts 
of  hostility.  The  fort  at  Portsmouth  was  attacked 
by  a  body  of  provincials,  carried  by  storm,  and  the 
powder  conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety;  the  same  was 
accomplished  in  Rhode  Island.  A  report  was  spread 
through  Connecticut,  that  the  British  garrison  and 
fleet  had  commenced  hostilities  against  Boston; 
about  thirty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  rose  sponta- 
neously in  arms  and  marched  towards  that  city. 

During  these  commotions  the  first  general  congress 
consisting  of  fifty-five  deputies,  were  elected,  and  on 
the  4th  of  September,  convened  at  Philadelphia.  For 
president  they  chose  Peyton  Randolph  of  Virginia; 
for  secretary,  Charles  Thomson.  The  personages 
who  composed  this  assembly,  were,  in  private  life, 
distinguished  for  their  virtues,  for  honour,  integrity, 
strength  of  character,  and  public  spirit.  Many  of 
them  were  men  of  admirable  talents  and  capacity. 
There  was,  perhaps,  no  one  of  them  who  would  not 
have  solicited,  as  the  most  glorious  prerogative  of  his 
life,  the  privilege  of  dying  for  the  liberties  of  his 
country. 

To  these  now,  were  consigned,  by  the  votes 
and  affection  of  their  fellow  citizens,  the  destinies  of 


INTRODUCTION.  CXC111 

America.  To  give  coherence,  consistency  and  sta- 
bility to  the  scattered  elements  of  many  distant  and 
independent  communities;  to  conciliate  the  conflict- 
ing passions  of  various  sects,  exasperated  by  politi- 
cal and  religious  antipathies;  to  control,  by  the  sole 
authority  of  their  virtues,  the  levity,  the  irrevocable 
and  headlong  turbulence  of  popular  fury;  to  encoun- 
ter the  accumulated  animosity,  the  sarcasm,  the 
disdain,  the  resentment,  and  immediate  vengeance  of 
their  enemy;  to  lead  forth  the  infant  forces  of  a  peo- 
ple, who  had  scarce  yet  risen  from  the  bosom  of  the 
desert,  who  had  not  yet  burst  from  the  obscurity  of 
provincial  subjection,  in  array  against  the  strength 
of  an  empire,  consolidated  by  the  revolution  of  ages, 
and  now  in  the  plenitude  of  her  power,  wrath  and 
ambition,  were  the  duties  which  devolved  upon  them; 
and  which  required  no  humble  faculties,  no  common 
audacity,  no  ordinary  vigour  and  elevation  of  mind. 
Letters  were  first  addressed  by  this  congress  of 
encouragement  and  admonition  to  the  people  of 
Massachusetts;  and  resolutions  were  passed  requir- 
ing the  other  colonies  to  supply  their  necessities  as 
long  as  the  occasion  should  require  it.  They  resolv- 
ed that  all  importations  of  English  goods  should  be 
prohibited,  and  that  exportation  to  that  country 
should  also  cease  in  December  of  the  following  year, 
unless  before  that  time,  their  grievances  were  re- 
vol.  i.  b  b 


CXCiv  INTRODUCTION. 

dressed.  A  declaration  of  rights  was  then  published, 
in  which  were  enumerated  the  constitutional  and 
natural  privileges  of  the  colonies,  the  aggressions  of 
the  British  government,  and  finally  the  measures  that 
could  alone  appease  their  mutual  resentments  and 
effect  a  cordial  reconciliation.  This  was  accompa- 
nied by  an  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  to 
the  king  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  British  America; 
in  which  they  endeavoured  to  mitigate  the  incensed 
feelings  of  their  sovereign  by  expressions  of  loyalty; 
to  conciliate  the  affection  of  the  English  nation,  by 
a  pathetic  appeal  to  their  generosity  and  love  of 
liberty,  and  to  instigate  their  countrymen,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Canada,  to  unite  and  persevere  in  the 
vindication  of  their  just  and  honourable  pretensions. 
These  papers  of  congress  were  composed  with  an 
eloquence,  a  force,  and  dexterity  of  reasoning,  that 
has  seldom  been  surpassed.  They  were  read  not  only 
in  America,  but  in  all  Europe,  and  especially  in 
France,  with  avidity.  At  home  the  admonition  and 
laws  of  this  assembly,  were  regarded  as  the  oracles 
of  truth.  They  were  ratified  by  the  legislatures,  un- 
less we  may  except  the  city  of  New  York  where  the 
influence  of  the  royal  party  was  predominant,  and 
were  obeyed  with  a  religious  veneration.  The  cause 
acquired  new  advocates  in  England,  and  excited  new 
interest  and  admiration  throughout  the  whole  world 


INTRODUCTION.  CXCV 

By  these  measures  of  congress  no  change  was 
however  produced  in  the  councils  of  the  ministry; 
and  from  the  continued  hostile  preparations  of  their 
commander,  it  became,  at  length,  evident  that  arms 
must  determine  the  dispute.  Preparations  were, 
therefore,  made  with  promptitude  for  this  last  fatal 
necessity.  A  military  ardour  soon  pervaded  every 
province.  The  militia  were  regularly  trained  to 
martial  exercises;  artillery,  ammunition,  and  other 
warlike  stores  were  provided  with  unintermitting  ac- 
tivity. In  Massachusetts  the  assembly  met  in  con- 
travention of  the  governor's  order.  Twelve  thousand 
militia,  and  a  number  of  minute  men,  or  soldiers 
who  engaged  at  a  minute's  warning,  were  armed  and 
trained  for  the  immediate  defence  of  the  province. 
Magazines  and  military  stores  were  provided,  and 
every  thing  wore  the  image  of  war. 

From  the  humble  notions  entertained  in  England 
of  American  bravery  or  public  spirit,  these  hostile 
preparations  had  excited  less  solicitude  than  disdain 
or  contempt.  It  had  been  convenient  for  the  British 
officers,  in  the  late  war,  to  extenuate  their  defeats, 
to  magnify  their  achievements,  or  emblazon  their 
own  valour  by  imputations  of  cowardice  upon  the 
provincial  troops.  These  tales  had  been  received  by 
the  willing  credulity  of  their  countrymen,  and  propa- 
gated by  national  pride  throughout  all  orders  of  the 


CXCV1  INTRODUCTION. 

kingdom;  and  the  prevailing  sentiments  were  now 
animated  by  ministerial  artifice,  and  party  animosity 
to  extreme  insolence  and  presumption.  A  distin- 
guished moralist*  was  hired  to  vilify  them;  and  from 
the  sacred  priest,  who  overwhelmed  them  with  pious 
imprecations,  to  the  vain  boasting  soldier,  who  loaded 
them  with  patriotic  curses,  all  united  in  the  general 
strain  of  vituperation;  cowards,  convicts,  and  some- 
times the  more  dignified  appellation  of  rebels  and  pa- 
racides  were  their  mildest  and  most  honourable  terms 
of  distinction.  Even  statesmen  of  eminent  virtues, 
and  officers  of  the  highest  military  dignities,  were  in 
some  degree  infected  by  the  contagion  of  this  salu- 
tary prejudice.  The  pusillanimous  character  of  the 
Americans,  their  religion  and  manners,  were  the 
usual  themes  of  merriment,  which,  on  this  occasion, 
softened  the  solemnity  of  parliamentary  debate. 
"  The  strength  of  Great  Britain,  can,  in  a  good 
cause,"  said  lord  Chatham,  "  crush  America  to 
atoms."  "  With  two  regiments  of  infantry,  said  an 
illustrious  commander,!  I  will  drive  the  inhabitants 
from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other."  The 
bad  fame  of  the  Americans,  has  on  various  occa- 
sions, promoted  the  glory  and  prosperity  of  their 
arms,  and  aggravated  the  disgraces  of  their  enemy. 

*  Dr.  Johnson.  t  General  Grant. 


INTRODUCTION.  CXCV11 

To  cherish  concord  at  home,  and  division 

1775. 
amongst  the  enemy,  the  great  art  of  skilful 

politicians,  was  that  by  which  the  ministry  of  Great 
Britain  hoped,  on  this  occasion,  to  effect  the  subjec- 
tion of  America  and  the  subversion  of  her  liberties. 
The  extensive  dispersion  of  the  colonies,  the  diver- 
sity of  interests  and  opinions  that  were  supposed  to 
prevail  among  them,  and  the  late  disposition  mani- 
fested by  New  York,  in  refusing  to  ratify  the  acts  of 
the  general  congress,  had  cherished  a  confidence  of 
success.  Lord  North,  began,  therefore,  his  admi- 
nistration of  this  year,  by  obtaining  from  the  house 
of  commons,  a  declaration  that  "  the  inhabitants  of 
Massachusetts  were  in  a  state  of  rebellion."  This 
was  succeeded  by  a  bill,  marked  by  the  same  insi- 
dious partiality  for  restraining  the  commerce  of  New 
England,  and  their  entire  exclusion  from  the  fisheries 
upon  the  coast  of  Newfoundland,  in  which  they  had 
employed  six  thousand  seamen,  and  realized  an  an- 
nual profit  of  one  million  and  a  half  of  dollars.  This 
prohibition  was  afterwards  extended  to  all  the  rest 
to  punish  their  adherence  to  the  proscribed  colonies 
of  the  North,  except  to  the  favourite  ones  of  North 
Carolina  and  New  York.  Thus,  whilst  the  minister 
with  one  hand  applied  the  rod  of  chastisement,  he 
extended  with  the  other,  the  offerings  of  his  munifi- 
cence. For  the  purpose  of  creating,  as  he  afterwards 


cxcviii  INTRODUCTION. 

acknowledged,  dissentions  in  America,  he  submitted 
to  the  house  of  commons  a  "conciliatory  propo- 
sition," the  spirit  of  which  was,  that  each  colony 
would  be  permitted,  by  the  forbearance  of  Great 
Britain,  to  tax  itself,  provided  that  the  sum  levied 
would  be  adequate  to  the  wishes  of  parliament. 

Thus,  Lord  North,  by  additional  provocations,  by 
increasing  the  causes  of  excitement,  designed  to 
appease  the  rage  of  a  popular  commotion,  and  at- 
tempted to  create  a  division  among  the  provinces  by 
strengthening  the  principles  of  their  cohesion.  What- 
ever had  been  done  by  the  mediation  of  eloquence 
and  genius,  on  the  part  of  the  opposition  to  counter- 
act the  designs  of  the  ministry,  served  but  to  precipi- 
tate the  career  of  their  blind  and  tyrannical  ambi- 
tion; all  the  efforts,  the  threats  and  supplication  of 
the  colonies  to  obtain  a  redress  of  their  grievances, 
had  produced  an  accumulation  of  injuries;  until  both 
parties,  at  length,  wearied  of  fruitless  discussions, 
exasperated  by  reciprocal  recriminations  beyond  the 
convictions  of  reason  or  clemency,  submitted  the 
controversy  to  the  decision  of  war. 

The  first  interest  of  the  provincials  was  the  pre- 
paration of  military  stores,  which  they  had  procured 
with  much  address  and  activity.  General  Gage, 
from  information  that  a  quantity  of  artillery  and  am- 
munition had  been  collected  about  eighteen  miles 


INTRODUCTION.  CXC1X 

from  Boston,  sent,  under  the  command  of  lieutenant 
colonel  Smith,  a  detachment  of  eight  hundred  men 
to  destroy  it.  This  enterprize,  though  undertaken 
with  great  secrecy,  and  in  the  night,  was,  by  the 
vigilance  of  the  provincials,  anticipated  and  defeated. 
On  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth  of  April,  on  ap- 
proaching the  village  of  Lexington,  about  seventy  of 
the  militia  suddenly  collected  from  the  neighbour- 
hood, appeared  under  arms.  Major  Pitcairn,  who 
led  the  van  of  the  British  troops,  rode  with  much 
speed  towards  them,  and  with  the  insulting  appella- 
tion of  rebels,  ordered  them  to  lay  down  their  arms 
and  disperse.  The  admonition  being  disregarded, 
his  soldiers  then  rushed  on  with  impetuosity,  by  his 
order,  and  commenced  firing,  which  they  continued 
with  furious  uproar,  as  if  clamour  was  essential  to 
the  dispersion  of  their  adversary,  until  the  militia  had 
disappeared.  Eight  men  were  killed;,  in  this  encoun- 
ter, and  many  were  wounded. 

The  royal  detachment  proceeded,  then,  to  Con- 
cord, the  place  of  their  destination,  and  began,  with- 
out interruption,  the  destruction  of  the  shires.  Soon, 
however,  the  alarm  was  spread  in  the  surrounding 
countiy,  the  militia  assembled,  the  royal  troops  were 
beaten,  and  fell  back  with  precipitation  and  confu- 
sion, to  Lexington.  By  the  arrival  of  lord  Percy, 
at  the  head  of  sixteen  companies  of  foot,  a  corps  of 


CC  INTRODUCTION. 

marines,  and  two  companies  of  artillery,  they  were 
rescued,  in  this  emergency,  from  entire  extermina- 
tion or  defeat.  By  the  aid  of  this  reinforcement, 
they  effected,  with  great  difficulty,  their  retreat  to 
Charlestown.  Here,  they  sought  refuge,  during  the 
night,  under  the  canon  of  their  ships,  and  on  the 
succeeding  morning,  crossed  over  to  Boston.  The 
loss  of  the  British  regulars,  in  killed,  wounded  and 
prisoners,  was  two  hundred  and  seventy-three  men; 
of  the  provincial  militia,  ninety. 

The  surprise  and  humiliation  of  the  English  troops, 
at  the  result  of  this  expedition,  was  extreme.  To  be 
thus  beaten  from  the  field,  thus  driven  within  the 
walls  of  their  fortress,  and  besieged  there,  by  an  un- 
disciplined and  disorderly  multitude;  to  see  the  vete- 
ran troops  of  a  royal  army  thus  fugitive  and  tena- 
cious of  their  safety,  and  "  cowards5'  thus  prodigal  of 
their  blood,  or  prompt  in  aetion,  were  images  of 
disgrace,  not  a  little  painful  to  the  imagination.  Some 
began  to  suspect  that  the  war  they  had  excited  with 
so  much  levity,  might  prove  sanguinary,  and  perilous 
beyond  their  hopes;  that  these  "rebels"  were  less 
dastardly  or  contemptible  than  they  had  supposed  or 
wished  them  to  be;  and  finally  that  "five  regiments 
of  British  infantry"  might  be  insufficient  to  traverse 
the  whole  continent,  or  drive  them  from  one  end  of 
it  to  the  other. 


INTRODUCTION.  GC1 

The  royal  army,  by  the  arrival  of  three  distinguish- 
ed generals,  Burgoyne,  Clinton,  and  Howe,  with  rein- 
forcements from  England,  was  increased  to  twelve 
thousand  men.  General  Gage,  that  he  might  oblite- 
rate the  disgraces  of  Lexington,  and  check,  in  its 
origin,  the  audacious  spirit  of  the  Americans,  now 
meditated  some  more  decisive  enterprise.  As  a  pre- 
lude to  hostilities,  a  proclamation  was  published  de- 
claring the  province  under  martial  law,  and  offering 
at  the  same  time  a  pardon,  with  the  exception  of 
Samuel  Adams  and  John  Hancock,  to  all  who  would 
lay  down  their  arms  and  submit  to  the  royal  authority. 

The  British  troops  were  stationed  in  Boston  and 
on  the  neck  of  the  peninsula  upon  which  that  city 
stands,  towards  the  south.  Opposite  to  the  entrance 
of  this  neck,  was  the  right  wing  of  the  provincial 
army;  the  centre  occupied  Cambridge  to  the  west  of 
the  city,  and  the  left  wing,  composed  principally  of 
the  militia  of  Massachusetts,  was  flanked  by  Charles- 
town,  a  village  to  the  north,  and  separated  by  a  nar- 
row sheet  of  water  from  Boston.  It  was  by  this  latter 
avenue,  that  the  British  general,  wishing  to  extricate 
himself  from  his  present  state  of  privation  and  inac- 
tivity, designed  to  urge  his  passage  into  the  open 
country.  Receiving  intelligence  of  this  project,  the 
Americans  took  immediate  measures  to  prevent  it. 
A  detachment  of  a  thousand  men  under  the  conduct 

VOL.  I.  PC 


CC11  INTRODUCTION. 

of  colonel  Prescot,  were  ordered  to  occupy,  during 
the  obscurity  of  the  night,  the  heights  of  Bunker's 
Hill;  a  position  which  commanded  the  issue  from  the 
peninsula  of  Charlestown;  but  the  party  employed  in 
this  service,  by  misconception  of  the  order,  or  mis- 
take, commenced  their  works  upon  Breeds'  Hill, 
another  eminence  of  the  peninsula,  which  overlooks 
the  whole  town  of  Boston.  A  battery  erected  upon 
this  ground  would  have  not  only  disconcerted  the 
projected  movement  of  the  royal  army,  but  have 
rendered  their  residence  in  the  city  precarious  and 
insecure.  It  was  therefore  required  of  the  British 
commander  imperiously  to  dislodge  his  antagonists 
from  this  formidable  position.  An  attempt  was  made 
for  this  purpose  by  the  artillery  of  the  fleet  and  gar- 
rison, which  proving  unsuccessful,  precipitated  the 
necessity  of  a  fierce  and  sanguinary  combat.  This 
was  the  battle  of  Breeds'  Hill.  It  was  fought  upon 
the  17th  of  June;  and  from  the  spirit  and  intrepidity 
with  which  it  was  sustained  by  both  parties,  the  im- 
pressions made  by  it  upon  the  opinions  of  men  at 
that  early  period  of  the  conflict,  and  its  influence 
upon  the  whole  war,  it  is  justly  entitled  to  a  special 
remembrance  in  the  annals  of  the  revolution. 

About  midday  the  royal  camp  was  put  in  motion. 
Ten  companies  of  grenadiers  and  as  many  of  in- 
fantry were  transported  by  general  Howe,  across  the 


INTRODUCTION.  CC111 

bay;  and  being  debarked,  under  the  protection  of 
their  vessels  of  war,  without  molestation,  were  array- 
ed upon  the  opposite  bank.  From  an  observation  of 
the  provincial  troops,  the  strength  of  their  position 
and  determined  countenance,  the  British  officer  sus- 
pending the  attack,  awaited  the  arrival  from  Boston, 
of  reinforcements.  With  an  accession  of  force  which 
was  deemed  adequate  to  the  enterprise,  he  advanced 
into  Charlestown,  and  set  fire  to  it;  the  houses  of 
which  being  of  wood,  the  whole  village  was  wrapped 
in  immediate  conflagration. 

The  citizens  of  Boston  and  the  reserve  of  the  En- 
glish army,  occupying,  in  immense  crowds,  the  eleva- 
tions of  the  city,  the  spires  and  roofs  of  houses, 
awaited,  in  all  the  anguish  of  suspense,  the  impend- 
ing conflict.  The  inhabitants  also  of  the  neighbour- 
ing country,  whom  curiosity  had  drawn  towards  the 
scene  of  action,  covered  the  declivities  and  summits 
of  the  surrounding  hills.  To  the  Americans  espe- 
cially, whose  interests  the  most  sacred  were  commit- 
ted to  the  hazard  of  this  battle,  whose  brothers,  hus- 
bands or  fathers  were  exposed  before  their  eyes  to 
the  most  imminent  peril,  the  whole  scene  was  preg- 
nant with  extreme  solicitude  and  terror. 

The  provincial  troops,  during  these  preliminary 
movements,  had  strengthened  their  position  with  un- 
wearied diligence.  They  now  remained  quiet  in  their 


CCiv  INTRODUCTION. 

station  and  reserved  their  whole  force  until  the  enemy 
had  approached  them  within  one  hundred  yards.  A 
fire  was  then  poured  upon  them  with  such  unerring 
precision,  and  especially  upon  the  officers,  that  the 
line  was  suddenly  broken,  and  with  the  loss  of  many- 
men  they  retreated  in  disorder  to  the  place  of  their 
debarkation.  Being  rallied,  however,  by  the  activity 
of  their  commander,  they  were  again  led  to  the 
charge.  As  before,  they  approached  without  moles- 
tation to  the  brink  of  the  entrenchments,  and  although 
upon  this  occasion  the  assault  was  urged  with  an 
obstinate  and  desperate  courage,  they  again  shrunk 
from  the  unremitting  violence  of  the  provincial  mus- 
ketry, with  a  flight  so  precipitate  that  many  sought 
refuge  in  their  boats;  leaving  their  general  alone,  for 
some  time,  upon  the  field  of  battle. 

The  spectators,  who,  during  the  vicissitudes  of  this 
conflict,  according  to  their  various  interests,  had 
been  animated  by  fear,  hope  or  desperation,  now  sur- 
veyed the  scene  of  action  with  mute  astonishment 
and  horror.  The  field  of  battle  was  covered  with 
the  slain.  The  fire  of  four  hundred  houses,  by  this 
time  agitated  with  all  the  destructive  rage  of  that 
element,  rolled  its  volumes  of  flame  and  smoke  to- 
wards the  heavens;  and  the  wretched  inhabitants, 
from  the  terror  of  the  conflagration,  or  of  military 
fury,  fled  upon  all  sides  with  cries  and  lamentations, 


INTRODUCTION.  CCV 

The  whole  scene  exhibited  a  spectacle  more  atro- 
cious and  magnificent,  than  language  or  imagination 
can  adequately  describe. 

By  the  intervention  and  aid  of  general  Clinton,  at 
this  critical  moment,  the  order  of  the  dispersed  sol- 
diers was  retrieved,  and  they  were  a  third  time  led 
to  the  attack.  But  the  Americans  had  now  exhaust- 
ed their  ammunition,  and  all  the  means  of  supply, 
by  the  necessity  of  their  position,  were  intercepted. 
They  were  likewise  destitute  of  bayonets,  and  re- 
duced to  the  last  resort  of  defending  themselves  with 
the  but  end  of  their  muskets;  this  they  did  with  ex- 
traordinary efforts  of  valor,  and  it  was  not  until  the  re- 
doubt had  been  filled  with  their  slaughtered  enemy, 
that  the  signal  was  -given  for  retreat. 

The  isthmus  of  Charlestown,  where  two  floating 
batteries  and  a  vessel  of  war  had  been  placed  by  the 
English,  was  the  sole  issue  of  escape,  and  presented 
to  the  retreating  army  the  most  imminent  dangers. 
This  movement  was  however  achieved,  and  with  a 
loss  much  less  considerable  than  had  been  anticipat- 
ed. The  troops  were  afterwards  withdrawn  to  a 
place  of  security,  without  molestation;  for  the  enemy 
had  sustained  too  severe  an  opposition  to  urge  their 
pursuit.  They  sought  no  further  advantage  of  their 
victory  than  the  possession  of  Bunker's  Hill;  an  ac- 


CCV1  INTRODUCTION. 

quisition  that  did  not  relieve  them  from  their  unpro- 
fitable and  inglorious  blockade. 

Of  three  thousand  persons,  nearly  eleven  hundred, 
the  pride  and  strength  of  the  British  army,  were,  in 
this  battle,  killed  or  wounded.  The  loss  of  the  provin- 
cials, did  not  exceed  the  half  of  that  number.  Amongst 
those  who  perished,  and  amongst  those  who  are 
numbered  with  the  noblest  victims  of  the  revolution, 
was  the  virtuous  and  brave  general  Warren;  a  man 
whose  name  will  be  as  long  dear  to  posterity,  as  ge- 
nius and  eloquence,  and  the  love  of  liberty,  are  titles 
of  admiration  amongst  mankind. 

Whatever  confidence  the  British  officers  and  army 
had  heretofore  reposed  in  the  cowardice  of  the  Ame- 
rican troops,  was,  by  the  issue  of  this  battle,  greatly 
diminished;  and  their  subsequent  operations  were 
therefore  administered  with  a  more  studious  vigilance 
and  circumspection.  The  provincials,  on  the  contrary, 
conceived,  from  these  prelusive  successes,  many 
presumptuous  hopes,  many  wild  and  extravagant 
notions  of  military  discipline,  not  a  little  injurious  to 
their  interests  in  the  future  administration  of  the  war. 

From  this  period  the  hopes  of  conciliation  were 
determined,  the  sacred  horror  which  men  feel  of 
civil  bloodshed  no  longer  interposed  a  barrier  to  the 
impetuosity  of  the  torrent,  which  now  spread  with 
uninterrupted  ravage  and  devastation.   The  burning 


INTRODUCTION.  CCV11 

of  Charlestown,  the  inhabitants  of  which  but  a  few 
days  before  had  dispensed  to  the  British  soldiers, 
wearied,  wounded,  and  fugitive  from  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  the  tenderest  offices  of  generosity  and  hos- 
pitality, was  a  wanton  and  barbarous  outrage,  which 
excited  in  the  hearts  of  the  Americans  no  mode- 
rate feelings  of  animosity;  and  by  a  continuation  of 
the  same  system  of  desolation  and  unrelenting  rapa- 
city, the  enemy  not  only  destroyed  the  affections  of 
kindred,  but  kindled,  in  their  stead,  those  rancorous 
passions  of  resentment  and  revenge,  which  the  blood 
of  many  wars  shall  not  expiate,  and  the  revolution 
of  many  ages  shall  not  extinguish. 

Of  the  remaining  transactions  of  this  year,  the 
most  important  was  the  appointment  of  general 
Washington  to  the  chief  command  of  the  American 
army;  the  proceedings  of  congress,  which  compre- 
hended regulations  of  the  army,  of  the  finances,  ad- 
dresses to  the  British  nation,  to  the  king,  and  a  de- 
claration of  rights,  with  a  detail  of  the  necessities 
that  had  urged  a  resort  to  arms  in  their  vindication, 
and  finally  the  expedition  to  Canada,  which  more 
than  counterbalanced  by  its  disasters,  the  prosperous 
events  that  had  happened  in  Massachusetts.  Of  this 
it  may  be  proper  to  give  some  detail. 

A  successful  enterprise  had  been  concerted,  early 
in  the  season,  by  a  few  individuals  of  Connecticut, 


CCViil  INTRODUCTION. 

and  conducted  by  colonels  Allen  and  Arnold,  against 
the  fortress  of  Ticonderoga,  upon  Lake  Champlain. 
The  party  consisted  of  no  more  than  two  hundred 
and  seventy  men.  They  obtained  possession  of  that 
place,  containing  a  great  quantity  of  military  stores, 
and  of  Crown  Point,  with  the  entire  command  of 
the  lake. 

To  continue  these  successes  and  to  defeat  the 
hostile  preparations  of  the  governor  of  Canada,  two 
thousand  men  under  the  command  of  General  Mont- 
gomery and  Schuyler,  were  also  marched  into  that 
province.  The  fortress  of  Chamblee,  and  that  of 
St.  John's  surrendered,  after  a  vigorous  resistance, 
to  their  arms.  Proceeding  thence  to  Montreal,  and 
after  the  expulsion  of  the  British  general  Carleton, 
they  took  possession  of  that  town  on  the  nineteenth 
of  November.  Colonel  Allen,  in  an  imprudent  at- 
tempt upon  this  place  had,  a  few  days  before,  been 
taken  prisoner,  loaded  with  irons  and  sent,  in  that 
condition,  to  England. 

Montgomery,  being  left  by  general  Schuyler,  pro- 
ceeded now  to  the  fatal  term  of  his  expedition,  the 
siege  of  Quebec,  which  he  undertook  with  a  few 
and  ill  appointed  troops,  during  the  severity  of  a 
ferocious  climate.  But  victory  had  already  attended 
his  arms,  nor  could  he  renounce  this  enterprise 
without  an  injurious  diminution  of  his  fame.     He 


INTRODUCTION.  CC1X 

was  joined  before  the  city,  by  the  forces  of  Arnold, 
of  seven  hundred  men,  sent  by  general  Washington, 
to  cooperate  in  this  enterprise  by  the  way  of  the 
Kennebeck  river,  through  the  district  of  Maine;  but 
these  were  already  worn  out  by  toils  and  dispirited 
by  a  succession  of  sufferings  the  most  dreadful  that 
imagination  can  conceive.  They  had  traversed, 
amidst  the  snows  and  storms  of  a  fierce  and  horrible 
climate,  a  region  of  several  hundred  miles,  desti- 
tute of  habitations,  intercepted  by  intricate  forests, 
swamps,  rivers  and  inaccessible  mountains;  and  hav- 
ing exhausted  their  provisions,  in  the  midst  of  these 
frightful  solitudes,  the  whole  army  had  been  reduc- 
ed to  the  most  wretched  means  of  subsistence;  to 
feed  upon  the  flesh  of  dogs,  and  for  some  days  upon 
the  leather  of  their  accoutrements;  but  unable  to 
sustain  life  by  this  scanty  nutrition,  great  multitudes 
had  perished  by  famine,  or  had  sunk  under  the  pres- 
sure of  fatigue  and  disease. 

These  shattered  forces,  Montgomery  conducted 
against  an  antagonist  of  spirit  and  activity,  to  the  as- 
sault of  the  town.  The  main  divisions  were  led  by 
Arnold,  on  the  side  of  St.  Roques,  and  by  himself 
upon  that  of  Cape  Diamond;  a  rugged  precipice,  the 
skirts  of  which  were  washed  by  the  river,  and  its 
passes  interrupted,  at  that  time,  by  enormous  masses  of 

snow  and  ice.  Having  surmounted  these  impediments 
vol.  i.  d  d 


CCX  INTRODUCTION. 

at  the  head  of  two  hundred  men,  whom  he  had  ani- 
mated by  his  example  and  exhortations,  he  advanced 
within  a  few  paces  of  the  first  barrier,  when  the  dis- 
charge of  a  single  gun  from  a  battery  almost  desert- 
ed, put  a  period  to  his  life.  With  two  of  his  most 
gallant  officers,  and  several  private  soldiers,  who  per- 
ished by  the  same  explosion,  he  fell  dead  upon  the  spot. 
The  command  having,  therefore,  devolved  upon  an 
officer  of  less  valour,  the  remaining  troops  were 
drawn  off  from  the  assault,  and  the  enemy  employed 
against  Arnold  their  undivided  forces. 

This  part  of  the  enterprise,  after  many  efforts  of 
bravery  by  the  officers  and  soldiers,  proved  likewise 
unfortunate.  Arnold,  his  leg  being  broken  in  the 
first  onset,  was  borne  from  the  field.  The  honour  of 
this  division  was  however  sustained  by  captain  Mor- 
gan, an  officer  of  no  less  spirit  or  intrepidity,  who  hav- 
ing assailed  and  taken  two  batteries  of  the  enemy, 
penetrated  even  to  the  town;  but  the  garrison  now  re- 
lieved from  all  other  apprehensions,  by  the  death  of 
Montgomery,  sallied  out,  and  attacked  him  with  their 
whole  force  in  the  rear.  The  provincials  displayed  in 
this  emergency,  the  most  resolute  courage;  but  being 
overpowered  at  length  by  numbers  and  overcome  by 
fatigue,  many  of  them  were  slain  and  the  remainder 
taken  prisoners.     Arnold  continued,  however,  with 


INTRODUCTION.  CCX1 

the  remnants  of  his  army,  to  blockade  the  town  and 
to  cut  off  the  supplies  of  the  garrison. 

The  loss  on  the  part  of  the  English  in  this  siege, 
was  inconsiderable.  The  Americans,  by  the  death 
of  Montgomery,  which  they  bewailed  with  no  com- 
mon sensibility,  were  bereft  of  one  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  of  their  country.  This  officer  was  a  na- 
tive of  Ireland,  and  had  served  with  distinction  in 
the  late  war  against  France.  He  had  adopted  America 
as  his  home,  and  became  the  most  strenuous  advo- 
cate of  her  liberties.  With  a  graceful  and  dignified 
person,  and  gentle  manners,  with  all  the  character- 
istic virtues  of  his  nation,  he  possessed  in  an  eminent 
degree  the  noblest  accomplishments  of  a  soldier.  He 
was  brave,  enterprising  and  generous  even  to  profu- 
sion; of  an  ambition  which  disdained  inferiority,  and 
of  a  genius  capacious  of  the  first  honors  of  the  state. 
We  cannot  reflect  upon  his  amiable  and  resplendent 
qualities,  and  the  sacred  interests  which  required  their 
exertion,  without  murmuring  at  the  fatality  which 
imposed  upon  him  this  wild  and  ill-omened  expedi- 
tion.— But  thus  in  the  flower  of  youth,  or  in  the  midst 
of  their  magnificence,  perish  the  brightest  ornaments 
of  human  nature,  whilst  the  wretch,  who  supplicates 
death  as  the  relief  of  his  calamities,  drags  out  his 
existence  to  the  extremity  of  old  age. 


CCX11  INTRODUCTION. 

The  chief  command  of  Montgomery's  forces  was 
entrusted  to  general  Thomas,  at  whose  decease, 
which  happened  a  few  months  after,  they  were  trans- 
ferred to  general  Sullivan.  They  were  retained  by 
some  unaccountable  improvidence,  in  the  enemy's 
territory,  for  nearly  six  months,  destitute  of  every 
comfort,  without  reinforcements  or  means  of  preser- 
vation, until  their  active  adversary  had  matured  his 
plans  for  their  annoyance  and  expulsion.  They  effect- 
ed their  retreat  in  the  months  of  May  and  June, 
with  every  species  of  distress,  and  with  an  obstinate 
courage  and  patience,  worthy  of  their  former  repu- 
tation and  sufferings. 

On  the  17th  of  March  of  this  year,  the  town 
1776.  J     .. 

of  Boston  was  evacuated  by  the  British  army; 

a  measure  which  had  been  rendered  necessary  by  the 
prudent  operations  of  general  Washington,  who,  hav- 
ing seized  and  fortified  the  heights  of  Dorchester, 
had  reduced  them  to  extremities,  and  rendered  their 
residence  of  the  city  insecure.  They  removed,  there- 
fore, to  Halifax,  and  were  accompanied  by  most  of 
those  who  retained  their  attachments  to  the  royal 
party.  This  event  was  hailed  by  the  Bostonians, 
who  had  so  long  been  constrained  by  the  imperious 
domination  of  a  foreign  military  force,  with  the  live- 
liest demonstrations  of  joy;  and  Washington,  the  au 


INTRODUCTION.  CCXU1 

thor  of  so  signal  a  benefit,  they  received,  with  the 
sincerest  expressions  of  gratitude. 

Whilst  these  events  passed  in  the  north,  the  pro- 
vinces of  the  south  were  not  altogether  exempt  from 
occupation.  Governor  Dunmore  of  Virginia,  by  re- 
moving secretly  from  the  provincial  magazine  of 
Williamsburgh,  some  military  stores,  had  excited 
amongst  the  inhabitants,  a  violent  spirit  of  resent- 
ment and  insurrection;  to  appease  which  he  had 
threatened  to  lay  the  town  in  ashes,  and  arm  the 
slaves  against  their  masters;  and  from  the  exaspera- 
tion occasioned  by  this  atrocious  menace,  his  lord- 
ship had  been  constrained  not  only  to  pay  an  equiva- 
lent for  the  objects  suborned,  but  to  take  refuge  on 
board  a  man  of  war  for  personal  security. 

Having  collected  a  considerable  naval  force,  prin- 
cipally of  negroes,  whom  he  had  seduced,  by  the 
hopes  of  freedom  and  plunder,  from  their  masters, 
this  infamous  viceroy  carried  on  a  predatory  war- 
fare upon  the  coast,  and  formed  at  length  a  project 
of  seting  fire  to  the  town  of  Hampton  From  which 
attempt  being  repulsed,  he  proclaimed  martial  law 
in  the  province,  offering,  at  the  same  time,  protec- 
tion and  liberty  to  all  slaves  who  should  join  the 
royal  standard.  An  action  took  place  with  this  mot- 
ley confederacy  at  the  great  bridge,  in  which  the 
governor  was  defeated.     He  proceeded  thence  to 


CCX1V  INTRODUCTION. 

Norfolk,  and  on  the  first  day  of  January,  set  fire  to 
the  town,  which,  no  effort  being  made  by  the  inha- 
bitants for  its  extinction,  was  reduced  to  ashes. 
Instigated  by  the  same  ferocious  spirit  of  revenge, 
he  then  employed  agents  to  seduce  the  Indians  to  a 
war  upon  the  frontier,  and  continued  himself  his 
depredations  in  the  vicinity  of  the  rivers;  in  burning 
houses,  robbing  plantations,  and  distressing  indivi- 
duals; until  his  adherents,  notwithstanding  his  prompt 
capacity  for  mischief,  growing  mutinous  aud  discon- 
tented, were  dispersed  amongst  the  Spanish  settle- 
ments of  Florida  and  Bermuda.  Thus  terminated 
the  civil  robberies  of  lord  Dunmore,  and  forever,  the 
royal  government  of  Virginia. 

The  same  arts,  no  less  impolitic  than  barbarous, 
had  been  practised  by  the  governors  of  North  and 
South  Carolina.  They  had  been  detected,  in  cor- 
respondence with  Dunmore,  in  attempts  to  excite 
war  with  the  savages  and  insurrection  among  the 
slaves,  and  like  him  had  taken  refuge,  from  the  just 
vengeance  of  their  crimes,  on  board  their  vessels  of 
war.  In  North  Carolina,  the  royalists  being  embodied 
under  a  general  M'Donald,  who  had  been  commis- 
sioned for  that  purpose,  gave  battle  to  the  provincials 
at  Moore's  creek  bridge,  where  they  were  routed 
with  considerable  loss,  and  their  commander  taken 
prisoner. 


INTRODUCTION.  CCXV 

The  hopes  of  the  party  were,  however,  kept  alive 
by  the  arrival  from  the  north  of  general  Clinton,  who 
at  this  time,  had  concerted,  with  a  formidable  naval 
force,  an  attack  upon  Charleston;  an  enterprise 
which,  by  the  activity  of  general  Lee  and  by  the  gal- 
lant courage  of  the  provincial  militia,  was  likewise 
defeated.  The  defence,  by  colonel  Moultrie,  of  Sul- 
livan's island,  upon  this  occasion,  is  enumerated 
amongst  the  brilliant  achievements  of  the  war. 

Notwithstanding  the  numerous  and  important 
transactions  of  this  year  by  land,  the  congress  had 
prepared  with  diligence  a  maritime  force,  which  con- 
tributed not  a  little  to  the  progress  of  their  military 
operations,  and  in  its  infancy  performed  exploits  not 
unworthy  its  future  destination.  The  interruption  of 
the  fisheries  had  left  unemployed  many  excellent 
seamen,  and  with  these  five  frigates  or  corvettes,  and 
thirty  gun-sloops,  had  been  armed  and  put  to  sea 
early  in  the  season.  In  a  descent  upon  the  island 
of  New  Providence,  under  the  conduct  of  Ezekiel 
Hopkins  their  commodore,  they  had  carried  off  one 
hundred  and  fifty  casks  of  powder  and  other  military 
stores;  made  many  valuable  prizes  upon  the  coast, 
and  even  venturing  into  the  open  sea,  had  sustained 
frequent  engagements,  with  a  distinguished  success 
and  intrepidity. 


CCXV1  INTRODUCTION. 

Thus  by  a  series  of  prosperous  events,  in  the  origin 
of  these  contentions  for  their  liberties,  the  Americans 
were,  by  degrees,  animated  with  new  hopes,  and 
inspired  with  the  designs  of  independence.  Even 
from  their  defeats,  and  from  their  wild  and  imprac- 
ticable enterprises,  by  discovering  an  eminent  cour- 
age, patience  and  dexterity  in  martial  exercises,  they 
had  derived  a  happy  presage  of  the  future  prosperity 
of  their  arms.  The  enemy,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
exercised  their  vengeance  during  the  progress  of  their 
military  operations,  by  the  most  outrageous  acts  of 
insolence  and  ferocity;  by  the  conflagration  of  towns, 
the  proscription  of  individuals,  the  instigation  of 
savages,  by  the  insurrection  of  slaves,  or  by  the  em- 
ployment of  foreign  mercenaries;  and  finally  by  acts 
of  violence  and  rapine  which  have  been  seldom  ex- 
ceeded by  the  most  uncultivated  barbarism.  And 
thus  were  the  affections  of  consanguinity  and  of  loy- 
alty gradually  extinguished,  until  the  denominations 
of  sovereign  and  subject,  once  respected  and  honour- 
able in  America,  became  odious  and  humiliating  dis- 
tinctions. 

Rejecting,  therefore,  all  thoughts  of  accommoda- 
tion upon  principles  compatible  with  their  freedom, 
they  began  in  private  conference,  and  in  popular  as- 
sociations, to  discuss  freely  the  subject  of  indepen- 
dence.    Essays,  also,  written  with  greaj;  abilities 


INTRODUCTION.  CCXV11 

and  eloquence,  tending  to  animate  the  zeal  and  kin- 
dle the  animosity  of  the  multitude  circulated  profuse- 
ly amongst  them.  Of  which  the  writings  of  Thomas 
Paine  are  justly  numbered  with  the  most  powerful 
instruments  of  American  freedom,  and  have  entitled 
the  author  of  them  to  no  common  degree  of  venera- 
tion. 

Encouraged  by  this  propension  of  the  people  to- 
wards independence,  the  congress  published,  on  the 
6th  of  May,  a  resolution,  in  which  they  recommend- 
ed, after  an  enumeration  of  the  causes  which  pre- 
cluded the  hopes  of  reconciliation  with  Great  Britain, 
the  adoption  by  each  state  of  such  civil  regulation 
and  form  of  government,  as  should  be  thought  ne- 
cessary for  the  security  of  their  liberties. 

The  provincial  assemblies,  in  those  states  in  which 
the  regal  governments  were  not  already  abolished, 
speedily  acted  upon  this  resolution,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Pennsylvania,  Maryland  and  New  York.  In 
these  it  was  acceded  to,  not  without  murmurs  of 
disapprobation. 

The  prevailing  sentiments  of  the  people  were 
however,  by  this  preliminary  measure,  sufficiently 
ascertained;  and  on  the  9th  of  June,  was  introduced 
the  final  resolution  of  independence. 

It  was  discussed  in  a  committee  of  the  whole 

house,  but  delayed  by  some  irresolution  on  the  part 
vol.  i.  e  e 


CCXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  until  the  4th  of  July; 
it  was  then  agreed  to  unanimously,  and  published 
with  a  declaration,  expressed  in  the  following  terms. 

"  When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it  becomes 
necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political 
bands  which  have  connected  them  with  another, 
and  to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the 
separate  and  equal  station,  to  which  the  laws  of 
nature  and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent 
respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the 
separation. 

"  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident — that  all 
men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by 
their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable  rights;  that 
amongst  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness.  That  to  secure  these  rights,  governments 
are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed;  that  whenever  any 
form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish 
it,  and  to  institute  new  government,  laying  its  foun- 
dation on  such  principles,  and  organizing  its  powers 
in  such  form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to 
effect  their  safety  and  happiness.  Prudence,  indeed, 
will  dictate,  that  governments  long  established  should 
not  be  changed  for  light  and  transient  causes;  and 


INTRODUCTION.  CCX1X 

accordingly  all  experience  hath  shown,  that  man- 
kind are  more  disposed  to  suffer,  while  evils  are 
sufferable,  than  to  right  themselves  by  abolishing  the 
forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed.  But  when  a 
long  train  of  abuses  and  usurpations,  pursuing  inva- 
riably the  same  object,  evinces  a  design  to  reduce 
them  under  absolute  despotism,  it  is  their  right,  it  is 
their  duty,  to  throw  off  such  government,  and  to  pro- 
vide new  guards  for  their  future  security.  Such  has 
been  the  patient  sufferance  of  these  colonies,  and 
such  is  now  the  necessity  which  constrains  them  to 
alter  their  former  systems  of  government. 

"  The  history  of  the  present  king  of  Great  Britain 
is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries  and  usurpations,  all 
having  in  direct  object  the  establishment  of  an  abso- 
lute tyranny  over  these  states.  To  prove  this,  let 
facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world. 

"  He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws  the  most  whole- 
some and  necessary  for  the  public  good. 

"  He  has  forbidden  his  governors  to  pass  laws  of 
immediate  and  pressing  importance,  unless  suspended 
in  their  operation,  till  his  assent  should  be  obtained; 
and  when  so  suspended,  he  has  utterly  neglected  to 
attend  to  them. 

"  He  has  refused  to  pass  other  laws  for  the  accom- 
modation of  large  districts  of  people,  unless  those 
people  would  relinquish  the  right  of  representation 


CCXX  INTRODUCTION. 

in  the  legislature,  a  right  inestimable  to  them,  and 
formidable  to  tyrants  only. 

"  He  has  called  together  legislative  bodies  at  places 
unusual,  uncomfortable,  and  distant  from  the  deposi- 
tory of  their  public  records,  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
fatiguing  them  into  compliance  with  his  measures. 

"  He  has  dissolved  representative  houses  repeatedly 
for  opposing,  with  manly  firmness,  his  invasions  on 
the  rights  of  the  people. 

"  He  has  refused,  for  a  long  time,  after  such  disso- 
lutions, to  cause  others  to  be  elected;  whereby  the 
legislative  powers,  incapable  of  annihilation,  have 
returned  to  the  people  at  large,  for  their  exercise; 
the  state  remaining,  in  the  meantime,  exposed  to  all 
the  dangers  of  invasion  from  without,  and  convul- 
sions within. 

"  He  has  endeavoured  to  prevent  the  population  of 
these  states;  for  that  purpose  obstructing  the  laws  for 
naturalization  of  foreigners;  refusing  to  pass  others, 
to  encourage  their  migrations  hither,  and  raising  the 
conditions  of  new  appropriations  of  lands. 

"  He  has  obstructed  the  administration  of  justice, 
by  refusing  his  assent  to  laws,  for  establishing  judi- 
ciary powers. 

"  He  has  made  judges  dependent  on  his  will  alone, 
for  the  tenure  of  their  offices,  and  the  amount  and 
payment  of  their  salaries. 


INTRODUCTION.  CCXX! 

"  He  has  erected  a  multitude  of  new  offices,  and 
sent  hither  swarms  of  officers,  to  harass  our  people, 
and  eat  out  their  substance. 

"  He  has  kept  among  us,  in  times  of  peace,  stand- 
ing armies,  without  the  consent  of  our  legislatures. 

"  He  has  affected  to  render  the  military  indepen- 
dent of,  and  superior  to,  the  civil  power. 

"  He  has  combined  with  others,  to  subject  us  to  a 
jurisdiction,  foreign  to  our  constitution  and  unac- 
knowledged by  our  laws;  giving  his  assent  to  their 
acts  of  pretended  legislation. 

"For  quartering  large  bodies  of  armed  troops 
among  us: 

"  For  protecting  them,  by  a  mock  trial,  from  pun- 
ishment for  any  murders  which  they  should  commit 
on  the  inhabitants  of  these  states: 

"  For  cutting  off  our  trade  with  all  parts  of  the 
world: 

"For  imposing  taxes  on  us  without  our  consent: 

"  For  depriving  us,  in  many  cases,  of  the  benefits 
of  trial  by  jury: 

"  For  transporting  us  beyond  seas,  to  be  tried  for 
pretended  offences. 

"  For  abolishing  the  free  system  of  English  laws  in 
a  neighbouring  province,  establishing  therein  an  ar- 
bitrary government,  and  enlarging  its  boundaries,  so 
as  to  render  it  at  once  an  example  and  fit  instru- 


CCXXU  INTRODUCTION. 

ment  for  introducing  the  same  absolute  rule  into 
these  colonies: 

"  For  taking  away  our  charters,  abolishing  our 
most  valuable  laws,  and  altering  fundamentally  the 
forms  of  our  governments: 

"  For  suspending  our  own  legislatures,  and  decla- 
ring themselves  invested  with  power  to  legislate  for 
us  in  all  cases  whatsoever. 

"  He  has  abdicated  government  here,  by  declaring 
us  out  of  his  protection,  and  waging  war  against  us. 
"  He  has  plundered  our  seas,  ravaged  our  coasts, 
burnt  our  towns,  and  destroyed  the  lives  of  our  peo- 
ple. 

"  He  is,  at  this  time,  transporting  large  armies  of 
foreign  mercenaries,  to  complete  the  works  of  death, 
desolation  and  tyranny,  already  begun,  with  circum- 
stances of  cruelty  and  perfidy,  scarcely  paralleled  in 
the  most  barbarous  ages,  and  totally  unworthy  the 
head  of  a  civilized  nation. 

"  He  has  constrained  our  fellow-citizens,  taken 
captive  on  the  high  seas,  to  bear  arms  against  their 
country,  to  become  the  executioners  of  their  friends 
and  brethren,  or  to  fall  themselves  by  their  hands. 

"  He  has  excited  domestic  insurrections  amongst 
us,  and  has  endeavoured  to  bring  on  the  inhabitants 
of  our  frontiers,  the  merciless  Indian  savages,  whose 


INTRODUCTION.  CCXX111 

known  rule  of  warfare  is  an  undistinguished  de- 
struction of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions. 

"  In  every  stage  of  these  oppressions,  we  have  pe- 
titioned for  redress,  in  the  most  humble  terms;  our 
repeated  petitions  have  been  answered  only  by  re- 
peated injury.  A  prince,  whose  character  is  thus 
marked,  by  every  act,  which  may  define  a  tyrant,  is 
unfit  to  be  the  ruler  of  a  free  people. 

"  Nor  have  we  been  wanting  in  attentions  to  our 
British  brethren.  We  have  warned  them,  from  time 
to  time,  of  attempts  by  their  legislature,  to  extend 
an  unwarrantable  jurisdiction  over  us.  We  have 
reminded  them  of  the  circumstances  of  our  emigra- 
tion and  settlement  here.  We  have  appealed  to  their 
native  justice  and  magnanimity,  and  we  have  con- 
jured them,  by  the  ties  of  our  common  kindred  to 
disavow  these  usurpations,  which  would  inevitably  in- 
terrupt our  connexions  and  correspondence.  They, 
too,  have  been  deaf  to  the  voice  of  justice  and  of  con- 
sanguinity. We  must,  therefore,  acquiesce  in  the  ne- 
cessity, which  denounces  our  separation,  and  hold 
them,  as  we  hold  the  rest  of  mankind — enemies  in 
war — in  peace,  friends. 

"  We,  therefore,  the  representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  general  Congress  assembled, 
appealing  to  the  Supreme  Judge  of  the  world,  for 
the  rectitude  of  our  intentions,  Do,  in  the  name,  and 


CCXX1V  INTRODUCTION. 

by  authority,  of  the  good  people  of  these  colonies, 
solemnly  publish  ^.djTdeclare,  that  these  United 
Colonies  are^riffo^right,S|Hht  to  be,  free  and  in- 
dependent  $t$te?',— tk&t  they,  ai*,e  absolved  from  all 
allegiance  totlfe  British  crowniand  that  all  political 
connexion,  between  them  ♦arid  the  state  of  Great 
Britain,  is  and  oughtito  be^totally  dissolved;  and  that, 
as  free  and  independent  States,  they  have  full  power 
to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  esta- 
blish commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things, 
which  independent  statesmay  of  right  do.  And,  for 
the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  a  firm  reliance 
on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we  mutually 
pledge  to  each  other,  our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our 
sacred  honoar.  ... 


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HANCOCK. 


John  Hanc.6c1$ ^wasVbprn  in  the  year  1737,  in 
the  province  of  Massachusetts.  The  habitation  of 
his  father^wjiic]}  is  repj-es'fujfted  as  the  precise  place 
of  his  natWky,  Avaj^iti/ateU'iiear  the  present  village 
of  Quincy,  and'by  the  ordinary  transitions  of  property 
in  America,  is  now  annexed  to  the  patrimony  of 
John  Adams,  former  president  of  the  United  States. 
In  this  neighbourhood,  it  may  also  be  remarked, 
were  born  and  died,  for  many  generations,  the  ances- 
tors of  the  illustrious  Samuel  Adams.  There  is, 
perhaps,  no  other  spot  in  New  England,  consecrated 
by  more  memorable  associations,  and  less  worthy  to 
be  noticed  with  a  negligent  or  superficial  observation. 

His  grandfather,  who  resided  for  half  a  century 
in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  and  in  that  part  which 
is  since  called  Lexington,  was  a  clergyman  of  good 
reputation.  His  father,  John  Hancock,  was  also  a 
divine;  and  by  the  wisdom,  the  integrity  and  piety, 

VOL.    I.  Ff 


2  HANCOCK. 

with  which  he  administered  his  theological  duties, 
gained  a  great  ascendant  in  the  affections  of  his  pa- 
rishioners. He  is  especially  praised  for  his  devotion  to 
learning;  and  the  literary  institutions  of  his  native 
state  derived  many  signal  benefits  from  his  patron- 
age and  benefactions. 

In  the  enumeration  of  his  ancestors,  as  far,  at 
least,  as  my  information  extends,  his  paternal  uncle 
merits  the  most  conspicuous  and  grateful  recollec- 
tion. This  gentleman,  by  his  industry  and  a  series 
of  prosperous  enterprises,  from  an  humble  and 
obscure  condition  of  fortune,  became  the  most  em- 
inent merchant  of  New  England,  and  was  distin- 
guished, at  the  same  time,  for  many  patriotic  virtues 
and  many  excellent  qualities  of  intellect.  He  sus- 
tained some  of  the  highest  offices  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  town;  was  for  many  years  a  mem- 
ber of  his  majesty's  provincial  council;  and  what 
is  no  usual  attribute  of  his  profession,  has  transmit- 
ted the  honorable  fame  of  promoting  the  literature 
of  his  country.  He  studied  especially  the  interests  of 
Harvard  University,  increased  its  library,  founded  a 
professorship;  and  the  name  of  Hancock,  in  letters  of 
gold,  now  adorns  one  of  the  alcoves  of  that  institu- 
tion, in  testimony  of  his  liberality. 

Under  the  tutelage  of  this  uncle,  John  Hancock, 
whose  father  had  died  during  his  infancy,,  received 


HANCOCK.  3 

his  education.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  col- 
lege in  1754;  and  being  endowed  with  a  vigorous 
understanding,  a  rich  and  strong  imagination,  and 
a  docility  of  temper,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
he  performed  his  collegiate  exercises  with  the  usual 
celerity  and  success.  It  is,  however,  repeated  by 
certain  biographers  and  historians,  who  have  noti- 
ced this  period  of  his  life,  that  he  discovered,  during 
his  studies,  no  superiority  of  intellect,  or  emula- 
tion of  literary  fame;  and,  by  some,  these  imputa- 
tions, which  become  frivolous  to  those  who  have 
considered  the  subsequent  incidents  and  character 
of  his  life,  have  been  extended  and  propagated  with 
a  studied  malignity;  for,  Hancock,  in  common  with 
all  those  who  have  adorned  human  nature  by  their 
virtues,  has  derived  from  the  licentious  interpreta- 
tions of  the  malevolent,  and  misconceptions  of  the 
ignorant  and  credulous,  an  additional  title  to  the  es- 
teem and  veneration  of  those  who  are  able  to  appre- 
ciate his  illustrious  merits. 

Youthful  indications,  are  at  all  events,  no  positive 
evidence  of  the  force  of  intellectual  endowments;  and 
precocity  of  genius,  though  often  a  subject  of  gratu- 
lation,  is  perhaps  no  more  to  be  admired  or  solicited, 
than  that  the  harvest  should  yield  its  fruits  in  imma- 
turity, or  that  the  buds  should  expand  before  the  sea- 
son of  vegetation.    The  imputation  of  dulness,  and 


4  HANCOCK. 

even  of  stupidity  has  been  attached,  during  the  rudi- 
ments of  their  education,  to  some  of  the  brightest 
ornaments  of  literature;  and  many  have  excited  the 
admiration  of  the  world  by  a  youthful  pregnancy  of 
genius,  whose  names  have  perished  before  the  hour 
of  parturition. 

At  the  conclusion  of  his  collegiate  studies  Mr. 
Hancock  entered  as  a  clerk  in  the  counting  house 
of  his  uncle,  who  was  then  at  the  height  of  his  com- 
mercial prosperity.  In  1760,  he  visited  England; 
was  present  at  the  funeral  of  George  II.  and  at  the 
coronation  of  his  successor.  Soon  after  his  return 
to  America  he  was  invested,  by  the  decease  and 
munificence  of  his  patron,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
seven  years,  with  a  fortune,  which  is  said  to  have 
been  more  magnificent  than  that  of  any  other  indi- 
vidual of  his  native  province. 

From  this  preliminary  notice,  we  may  pursue 
him  to  the  scenes  of  public  life;  for  his  ambition 
soon  strayed  from  the  precinets  of  the  counting 
house,  and  his  private  life  ceased  with  his  minority. 

He  was  first  chosen  selectman  of"  the  town   of 
Boston,  a  municipal  office  which  he  held  many  years; 
and  was  elected,  in  1766,  with  James  Otis,  Samuel 
Adams,  and  Thomas  Cushing,  a  representative  to 
the  general  assemoly  of  the  province. 


HANCOCK.  5 

His  introduction  to  public  notice  was  favoured, 
it  is  said,  by  his  colleague  Mr.  Adams,  which  is 
indeed  no  humble  evidence  of  the  excellence  of 
his  merit;  for  that  gentleman  is  described  as  a  man  of 
punctilious  observation,  of  a  chaste  and  delicate  hon- 
our; from  which  we  may  infer  that  he  used  not  wil- 
lingly the  instrumentality  of  vice  or  of  ignorance, 
and  that  his  sagacity  was  not  deceived  by  superfi- 
cial or  meretricious  pretensions. 

The  friendship  of  these  men  was  on  some  oc- 
casions, during  the  heat  of  discussion  or  competition 
of  honours,  interrupted;  but  their  esteem  was  coex- 
istent with  their  lives,  and  their  contentions  were 
marked  by  no  injurious  or  malignant  animosity. 

Some  modern  writers,  no  doubt,  from  the  predilec- 
tions and  aversions  of  party,  have  asserted  that  Han- 
cock attained  his  distinction  in  the  government,  with- 
out personal  merit,  by  the  influence  of  his  illustrious 
patronage,  or  of  his  wealth.  Upon  what  evidence  of 
facts,  or  of  probabilities,  these  assertions  are  haz- 
arded, is  not  comprehended  from  an  examination 
of  his  life. 

In  those  governments  in  which  the  instruments  of 
power  are  concealed  from  observation,  honours  are 
often  lavished  upon  men  no  otherwise  distinguished 
from  the  multitude,  than  by  the  appendages  of 
their  office.  In  corrupt  republics,  many  are  raised. 


6  HANCOCK. 

to  a  temporary  enjoyment  of  authority,  by  faction,  and 
with  perhaps  no  more  sentiment  of  the  sacred  obli- 
gations of  it,  than  the  prancing  steed  of  the  rich 
trappings  with  which  he  is  caparisoned.  In  all  gov- 
ernments, a  frivolous  object  may,  indeed,  be  so  far 
dressed  in  the  drapery  of  novelty,  as  to  arrest  for  a 
while  the  stare  and  admiration  of  the  crowd;  but  it 
was  the  lot  of  Mr.  Hancock  to  reside  in  a  community 
in  which  men  seldom  rose  to  distinction  by  the  influ- 
ence of  celebrated  names;  in  which  the  virtues  of  hu- 
man nature  were  unprofanedby  the  projects  of  inor- 
dinate ambition.  He  was  bred  up  in  a  revolution,  of 
which  the  elevations  were  surrounded  by  precipices; 
where  folly  may  have  sometimes  mounted  by  its  own 
levity,  wickedness  by  intrigue  or  insolence,  and  stupid- 
ity may  have  been  dragged  by  extraneous  force  to  the 
summit;  but  where  wisdom  and  virtue  alone  main- 
tained their  preeminence.  He  commenced  his  career 
of  public  honours  at  an  early  period  of  his  life;  was 
amongst  those  who  kindled  into  flame  the  first  sparks 
of  the  liberty  and  independence  of  his  country;  en- 
joyed the  highest'  dignities  of  his  native  state  until 
his  death,  and  shone  conspicuously  in  some  of  the 
most  brilliant  scenes  of  the  revolution. 

Adams  concealed,  without  doubt,  under  the  rug- 
ged garb  of  his  republican  simplicity,  a  predomina- 
ting mind,  and  possessed,  it  is  said,  the  happy  secret 


HANCOCK.  7 

of  transfusing  his  inspiration  to  the  hearts  of  his 
compatriots;  but  communication  implies,  at  all  times, 
a  capacity  to  receive;  and  the  application  of  another's 
principle's,  personal  address  and  dexterity.  Achilles, 
in  placing  his  shield  upon  the  arm  of  his  friend, 
did  not  communicate  his  valour  or  his  strength. 

As  representative  of  the  provincial  assembly,  the 
colleagues  of  Mr.  Hancock  bore  an  honourable  tes- 
timony to  the  excellence  of  his  principles  and  abi- 
lities; for,  as  appears  from  the  journals  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, he  was  nominated  to  all  their  important 
committees;  and,  notwithstanding  the  dignity  of  his 
associates,  appointed  chairman  upon  deliberations 
which  involved  the  highest  interests  of  the  commu- 
nity. 

The  first  provocation  of  the  British  government 
which  created  a  spirit  of  civil  discord  amongst  her 
provinces,  was  the  imposition  of  duties  upon  the 
importation  of  foreign  merchandize,  and  other  in- 
juries impairing  the  prosperity  of  the  colonial  com- 
merce. Upon  which  occasion,  all  the  address  and  dili- 
gence of  Mr.  Hancock,  in  opposition  to  a  system  of  le- 
gislation so  rapacious  and  tyrannical,  were  exerted.  It 
was  by  his  agency,  and  that  of  a  few  other  citizens 
of  Boston,  that  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  revo- 
cation of  these  duties,  associations  were  instituted  to 
prohibit  the  importation  of  British  goods;  a  policy. 


8  HANCOCK. 

which  soon  afterwards  being  imitated  in  the  other 
colonies,  first  served  to  awaken  the  apprehensions 
of  the  people,  and  to  kindle  those  passions  that  were 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  war  and  the  preserva- 
tion of  their  liberties.  For,  the  agitation  of  this  sub- 
ject produced,  indeed,  no  common  animosity,  and  in 
some  instances  acts  of  atrocity  and  outrage;  of 
which  may  be  mentioned  amongst  the  most  con- 
spicuous, the  case  of  Mr.  Otis,  a  gentleman  very 
eminently  distinguished,  at  that  time,  for  his  elo- 
quence and  many  excellent  accomplishments,  who, 
at  the  instigation  of  a  British  officer,  was  assailed  by 
a  band  of  ruffians,  with  a  violence  which  impaired 
his  reason  and  accelerated  his  death. 

About  the  same  time,  a  vessel  of  Mr.  Hancock, 
being  loaded,  it  was  said,  in  contravention  of  the  re- 
venue laws,  was  seized,  by  the  custom  house  officers, 
and  carried  under  the  guns  of  an  armed  vessel,  at 
that  time  in  the  harbour,  for  security;  but  the  people, 
exasperated  by  this  offensive  exertion  of  authority, 
assembled  and  pursuing  the  officers,  beat  them  with 
clubs,  and  drove  them  aboard  their  vessels,  or  to  a 
neighbouring  castle,  where  they  fled  for  protection. 
The  boat  of  the  collector  was  then  bur  it  in  triumph, 
by  the  mob,  and  the  houses  of  some  of  his  most  ob- 
noxious adherents  were,  in  the  first  transports  of 
this  popular  fury,  razed  to  the  ground. 


HANCOCK.  0 

These  riotous  proceedings  were,  indeed,  reproba- 
ted by  the  legal  authorities,  and  instructions  given  for 
the  punishment  of  the  offenders,  but  the  resentments 
of  the  people  were,  nevertheless,  violently  excited; 
and  Hancock,  although  his  name  only  was  connected 
with  the  transaction,  derived  from  it  an  increase  of 
popularity.  This  occurrence  is  especially  worthy  of 
notice,  as  being  one  of  those  original  causes,  which 
precipitated  to  a  crisis,  the  contentions  subsisting 
between  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country. 

The  governor  of  the  province,  under  pretence  of 
maintaining  the  order  of  the  town,  of  protecting  the 
officers  of  the  revenue,  and  of  preventing  a  recur- 
rence of  similar  commotions,  introduced,  soon  after 
these  events,  into  Boston,  several  regiments  of  Brit- 
ish troops;  a  measure  that  more  than  all  others,  at 
this  early  period  of  their  disaffections,  served  to  irri- 
tate the  inhabitants  and  nourish  the  seeds  of  rebellion; 
for  men  who  are  bred  up  to  a  military  life,  for  the  most 
part,  assume  an  imperious  and  insolent  superiority 
over  the  civil  orders  of  the  community,  and  usually 
claim  by  profession  an  exemption  from  the  ordinary 
rules  and  sensibilities  of  humanity.  In  the  present 
instance,  they  were  prepossessed  with  degrading  sen- 
timents of  the  people  amongst  whom  they  were  sta- 
tioned, and  by  a  special  discipline,  prepared  for  acts  of 
violence  and  ferocity.  They  had  besides  grown  old  in 

VOL.  I.  Gg 


10  h  HANCOCK. 

battles,  and  were  practised  in  the  occupation  and  hor- 
rors of  war  and  bloodshed.  The  inhabitants,  on  the 
other  hand,  independent  of  the  feelings  inspired  by 
the  insulting  aspect  and  parade  of  foreign  troops  in 
their  city,  regarded  them,  on  this  occasion,  as  the 
instruments  of  a  tyranny,  which  all  the  miseries  and 
everlasting  infamy  of  servitude,  forbid  them  to  en- 
dure; and,  under  the  empire  of  these  sentiments, 
embittered  very  frequently  by  contumelious  express- 
ions, which  men  more  promptly  resent  than  real 
injuries,  the  parties  did  not  long  abstain  from  acts 
of  injury  and  outrage. 

On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  of  March  1770,  a 
small  party  of  the  British  soldiers  parading  in  King 
street,  and  being  assailed  by  a  tumultuary  assem- 
blage of  the  people,  with  balls  of  snow  and  other  ac- 
cidental weapons,  fired  upon  them  by  the  order  of 
their  officer,  to  disperse  them.'  Upon  which  occasion 
several  of  the  crowd  were  wounded  and  a  few  were 
killed.  This  affray  is  usually  termed  "the  massacre  of 
Boston,"  and  although  originating  in  the  provocations 
of  the  mob,  was  regarded  by  the  people  as  an  act  of 
atrocious  iniquity,  which  required  an  immediate  and 
signal  revenge.  The  tolling  of  bells  and  the  clamours 
of  the  inhabitants  soon  spread  the  alarm  through 
the  town,  and  the  multitude,  with  whatever  arms  fury 
administered,  and  with  the  usual  impetuosity  of  po- 


HANCOCK.  11 

pular  rage  and  resentment,  flocked  in  from  all  sides. 
But  during  the  first  moment  of  stupefaction  or  con- 
fusion, occasioned  by  the  unusual  and  sanguinary 
scene — for  this  was  the  first  effusion  of  blood  since  the 
origin  of  their  contentions — the  offenders  were  with- 
drawn; and  by  this  interception  of  their  rage,  by  the 
intervention  of  individuals  of  the  popular  party,  and 
by  the  assurances  of  the  governor  that  the  guilty  were 
arrested  for  the  punishment  of  the  laws,  all  further 
acts  of  violence  were  prevented. 

An  assembly  of  the  citizens  was  convened  on  the 
succeeding  day,  principally  by  the  instigation  of  Mr. 
S.  Adams;  and  Mr.  Hancock,  with  some  others,  ap- 
pointed to  request  of  the  governor,  a  removal  of  the 
British  troops  from  the  town.  This,  the  governor, 
by  interposing  the  plea  of  insufficient  authority,  and 
by  other  arts  of  prevarication,  endeavoured  to  evade. 
A  second  committee  being  then  selected,,  of  which 
Hancock  was  chairman,  voted  the  excuse  inadmis- 
sible, and  by  a  more  peremptory  tone  of  expostu- 
lation urged  and  obtained  their  removal.  The  pro- 
minence and  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Hancock  in  this 
emergency  affords  no  vague  evidence  of  the  high 
estimation  in  which  he  was,  at  that  period,  held  by 
his  countrymen. 

The  bodies  of  the  slain  being,  a  few  days  after 
their  decease,  borne  to  the  place  of  sepulture,  were 


12  HANCOCK. 

deposited  in  the  same  tomb.  Their  obsequies  were 
consecrated  by  many  melancholy  ceremonies,  by 
the  tolling  of  bells  in  Boston,  and  in  the  neighbour- 
ing towns;  by  funeral  processions,  and  by  various 
other  emblematic  demonstrations  of  mourning  which 
awoke  the  compassion  or  roused  the  indignation 
of  the  multitude.  From  a  speech  of  Mr.  Han- 
cock, in  commemoration  of  this  event,  I  shall  here 
offer  a  few  desultory  extracts.  It  was  pronounced 
during  the  fiercest  rage  of  British  animosity,  and 
furnishing,  at  the  same  time,  an  evidence  of  the  spi- 
rit and  principles  of  the  orator,  as  well  as  of  his 
capacity  for  eloquence,  may  not  be  considered  altoge- 
ther a  digression  from  the  purpose  of  his  biography. 

"  I  have,  from  the  earliest  recollections  of  youth, 
rejoiced  in  the  felicity  of  my  fellow  men;  and  have 
considered  it  as  the  indispensable  duty  of  every 
member  of  society  to  promote,  as  far  as  in  him 
lies,  the  prosperity  of  every  individual  of  his  spe- 
cies, but  more  especially  of  the  community  to  which 
he  belongs;  and  also,  as  a  faithful  subject  of  the 
state,  to  use  his  utmost  endeavours  to  detect,  and 
defeat  every  traitorous  plot  which  its  enemies  may 
devise  for  its  destruction. 

"  Security  to  the  persons  and  property  of  the  go- 
verned, is  so  obviously  the  design  and  end  of  civil 
government,  that  to  attempt  a  logical  demonstration 


HANCOCK.  13 

of  it,  would  be  like  burning  tapers  at  noon  day,  to 
assist  the  sun  in  enlightening  the  world;  and  it  can- 
not be  either  virtuous  or  honourable,  to  attempt  to 
support  institutions,  of  which  this  is  not  the  great  and 
principal  basis. 

"  Some  boast  of  being  friends  to  government;  I  am 
a  friend  to  righteous  government,  to  a  government 
founded  upon  the  principles  of  reason  and  justice; 
but  I  glory  in  publicly  avowing  my  eternal  enmity  to 
tyranny;  and  here  suffer  me  to  ask  what  tenderness, 
what  regard,  have  the  rulers  of  Great  Britain  mani- 
fested in  their  late  transactions,  for  the  security  of 
the  persons  or  property  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
colonies?  or  rather,  what  have  they  omitted  doing 
to  destroy  that  security?  they  have  usurped  the  right 
of  ruling  us,  in  all  cases  whatever,  by  arbitrary  laws; 
they  have  exercised  this  pretended  right  by  imposing 
a  tax  upon  us  without  our  consent;  and  lest  we  should 
show  some  reluctance  at  parting  with  our  property, 
their  fleets  and  armies  are  sent  to  enforce  their  mad 
and  tyrannical  pretensions.  The  town  of  Boston,  ever 
faithful  to  the  British  crown,  has  been  invested  by  a 
British  fleet;  the  troops  of  George  the  third  have  cross- 
ed the  Atlantic,  not  to  engage  an  enemy,  but  to  as- 
sist a  band  of  traitors  in  trampling  on  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  his  most  loyal  subjects;  those  rights  and 
liberties  which,  as  a  father,  he  ought  ever  to  regard,, 


14  HANCOCK. 

and  as  a  king,  he  is  bound,  in  honour,  to  defend  from 
violations,  even  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life. 

"These  troops,  upon  their  first  arrival,  took 
possession  of  our  senate  house,  pointed  their  can- 
non against  the  judgment  hall,  and  even  continu- 
ed them  there  whilst  the  supreme  court  of  the  pro- 
vince was  actually  sitting  to  decide  upon  the  lives 
and  fortunes  of  the  king's  subjects.  Our  streets 
nightly  resounded  with  the  noise  of  riot  and  debau- 
chery; our  peaceful  citizens  were  hourly  exposed  to 
shameful  insults,  and  often  felt  the  effects  of  their 
violence  and  outrage.  But  this  was  not  all;  as  though 
they  thought  it  not  enough  to  violate  our  civil  rights, 
they  endeavoured  to  deprive  us  of  the  enjoyment  of 
our  religious  privileges;  to  vitiate  our  morals,  and 
thereby  render  us  deserving  of  destruction.  Hence 
the  rude  din  of  arms  which  broke  in  upon  your 
solemn  devotions  in  your  temples,  on  that  day  hal- 
lowed by  heaven,  and  set  apart  by  God  himself  for 
his  peculiar  worship.  Hence,  impious  oaths  and 
blasphemies  so  often  tortured  your  unaccustomed 
ear.  Hence,  all  the  arts  which  idleness  and  luxury 
could  invent,  were  used,  to  betray  our  youth  of  one 
sex  into  extravagance  and  effeminacy,  and  of  the 
other  to  infamy  and  ruin;  and  did  they  not  succeed 
but  too  well?  did  not  a  reverence  for  religion  sensi- 
bly decay?  did  not  our  infants  almost  learn  to  lisp 


HANCOCK.  15 

out  curses  before  they  knew  their  horrid  import? 
did  not  our  youth  forget  they  were  Americans,  and 
regardless  of  the  admonitions  of  the  wise  and  aged, 
copy  with  a  servile  imitation,  the  frivolity  and  vices 
of  their  tyrants?  and  must  I  be  compelled  to  ac- 
knowledge, that  even  the  noblest,  fairest  part  of  all 
the  lower  creation  did  not  entirely  escape  the  cursed 
snare? — or  why  have  I  seen  an  honest  father  clothed 
with  shame;  or  why  a  virtuous  mother  drowned  in 
tears  ? 

"  But  I  forbear,  and  come  reluctantly  to  the  trans- 
actions of  that  dismal  night,  when  in  such  quick 
succession  we  felt  the  extremes  of  grief,  astonish- 
ment, and  rage;  when  heaven  in  anger,  for  a  dread- 
ful moment,  suffered  hell  to  take  the  reins;  when  Sa- 
tan with  his  chosen  band  opened  the  sluices  of  New 
England's  blood,  and  sacrilegiously  polluted  our  land 
with  the  dead  bodies  of  her  guiltless  sons. 

"  Let  this  sad  tale  of  death  never  be  told  without  a 
tear;  let  not  the  heaving  bosom  cease  to  burn  with  a 
manly  indignation  at  the  relation  of  it,  through 
the  long  tracts  of  future  time;  let  every  parent  tell 
the  shameful  story  to  his  listening  children,  till  tears 
of  pity  glisten  in  their  eyes,  or  boiling  passion  shakes 
their  tender  frames. 

"  Dark  and  designingknaves,  murderers,  parricides! 
how  dare  you  tread  upon  the  earth,  which  has  drunk 


16  HANCOCK. 

the  blood  of  slaughtered  innocence  shed  by  your 
hands?  how  dare  you  breathe  that  air  which  wafted 
to  the  ear  of  heaven,  the  groans  of  those  who  fell  a 
sacrifice  to  your  accursed  ambition? — but  if  the  la- 
bouring earth  doth  not  expand  her  jaws;  if  the  air 
you  breathe  is  not  commissioned  to  be  the  minister 
of  death;  yet,  hear  it,  and  tremble!  the  eye  of  heaven 
penetrates  the  darkest  chambers  of  the  soul;  and 
you,  though  screened  from  human  observation,  must 
be  arraigned,  must  lift  your  hands,  red  with  the  blood 
of  those  whose  death  you  have  procured,  at  the  tre- 
mendous bar  of  God. 

"  But  I  gladly  quit  the  theme  of  death — I  would 
not  dwell  too  long  upon  the  horrid  effects  which 
have  already  followed  from  quartering  regular  troops 
in  this  town;  let  our  misfortunes  instruct  posterity 
to  guard  against  these  evils.  Standing  armies  are 
sometimes  (I  would  by  no  means  say  generally, 
much  less  universally)  composed  of  persons  who 
have  rendered  themselves  unfit  to  live  in  civil  socie- 
ty; who  are  equally  indifferent  to  the  glory  of  a 
George  or  a  Louis;  who  for  the  addition  of  one  pen- 
ny a  day  to  their  wages,  would  desert  from  the  chris- 
tian cross,  and  fight  under  the  crescent  of  the  Turk- 
ish Sultan;  from  such  men  as  these,  what  has  not  a 
state  to  fear?  with  such  as  these,  usurping  Cassar 
passed  the  Rubicon;  with  such  as  these  he  humbled 


HANCOCK.  17 

mighty  Rome,  and  forced  the  mistress  of  the  world 
to  own  a  master  in  a  traitor.  These  are  the  men 
whom  sceptered  robbers  now  employ  to  frustrate 
the  designs  of  God,  and  render  vain  the  bounties 
which  his  gracious  hand  pours  indiscriminately  upon 
his  creatures." 

By  the  sentiments  of  this  latter  paragraph,  Han- 
cock gave  great  offence  to  the  British  officers,  who 
went  in  numbers,  the  succeeding  year,  to  the  old 
South  Church,  whilst  an  oration  was  repeated  on  the 
same  occasion,  by  Doctor  Warren,  with  the  design  of 
provoking  a  riot  and  taking  revenge  for  the  insult. 
A  captain  of  the  Royal  Welsh  fusileers  standing  for 
some  time  upon  the  pulpit  stairs,  played  with  a  hand- 
ful of  bullets,  and  at  length  with  a  vehement  and 
fierce  exclamation  endeavoured  to  alarm  the  meeting 
with  the  cry  of  fire! — but  the  town  clerk,  with  a 
voice  which  is  said  to  have  rivalled  the  thunder,  ap- 
peased the  tumult;  and  the  riotous  officers  being  si- 
lenced and  overawed,  the  solemnity  was  concluded 
without  further  molestation. 

The  remainder  of  this  discourse  comprehends  a 
detail  of  the  various  acts  of  injury  and  oppression 
sustained  for  many  years  under  the  administration 
of  Great  Britain,  in  language  very  honorable  to  the 
talents  and  sentiments  of  the  orator. 
VOL.  i.  hIi 


18  HANCOCK. 

It  is  in  some  parts,  perhaps,  more  declamatory, 
than  the  usual  style  of  the  revolution,  which  was 
commonly  very  foreign  from  the  noisy  eloquence  of 
faction  or  the  glitter  of  false  magnificence.  It  de- 
rives, however,  an  interest,  independent  of  the  arts 
of  composition,  from  the  occasion  upon  which  it  was 
pronounced;  in  giving  new  lustre  to  the  reputation 
of  Mr.  Hancock,  which  at  this  period  was  injuri- 
ously diminished. 

Conscious  of  the  fatal  influence  of  his  popularity  to 
the  designs  of  the  British  government,  the  governor 
of  the  province,  had  endeavoured  by  studied  civilities 
or  by  direct  overtures,  made,  it  was  said,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  lord  North  the  prime  minister,  to  pro- 
cure his  disaffection  to  the  interests  of  the  provincial 
party;  and  by  the  malevolence  of  rivals,  or  an  insi- 
dious artifice  of  the  enemy,  joined  to  the  natural 
proneness  of  mankind,  to  aggravate  the  imperfec- 
tions of  their  fellow  creatures,  reports  were  soon 
spread  detrimental  to  his  fame. 

The  seductions  of  the  governor,  he  was  said  to 
have  resisted  with  too  little  asperity;  to  have  violated, 
on  some  occasions,  the  non-importation  agreement; 
and  even  to  have  solicited  a  contract  for  supplying  the 
British  army  with  provisions.  These  imputations 
were  founded  upon  no  external  evidence,  but  were 
circulated  with  such  sedulous  malignity,  a,nd  at  a 


HANCOCK. 

time  in  which  parties  were  loud,  clamorous  and  ma- 
levolent,that  even  those  who  were  secure  of  the  inte- 
grity of  his  principles,  feared,  from  these  arts,  a  dimi- 
nution of  his  zeal  for  the  liberties  of  his  country.  His 
manners  also  and  habits  of  life,  though  exempt  from 
all  insolence  and  pride  or  prodigality,  savoured  more, 
it  was  said,  of  the  magnificence  of  the  courtier,  than 
of  republican  severity;  and  his  wealth  was  supposed 
too  great  for  democratic  simplicity  or  popular  pre- 
dilections. Connected  with  these  appearances,  were 
some  political  occurrences,  which  had  no  tendency 
to  appease  the  animosities  of  his  rivals,  or  check  the 
insolence  of  slander. 

The  provincial  assembly,  that  it  might  be  more 
subservient  to  ministerial  authority,  when  remote  from 
the  vigilance  or  commotions  of  a  populous  city,  had 
been  transferred  to  Cambridge.  This  measure  pro- 
duced a  vehement  altercation  with  the  governor,  who 
after  several  sessions,  yielded  to  the  importunities  of 
the  members  of  returning  to  Boston,  with  the  provi- 
sion that  "  the  right  of  convening  elsewhere  should  be 
expressly  admitted."  Upon  this  question,  Hancock  vo- 
ted with  the  majority  and  in  opposition  to  his  friend 
and  colleague,  Adams,  who  strenuously  opposed  the 
proposition.  The  latter  of  these  patriots  being  severe 
and  sarcastic  in  debate,  the  former  petulant  and  im- 
patient of  contradiction^  division  of  sentiment  pro- 


20  HANCOCK. 

duced,  therefore,  a  transient  intermission  of  their 
intercourse  and  friendship,  with  a  fierce  and  defa- 
matory collision  amongst  their  adherents.  But  to 
those  who  reside  in  a  free  government  it  need 
scarcely  be  observed  how  little  credit  is  due  to  the 
malicious  recriminations  of  party  spirit;  these  are 
inseparable  ingredients  of  popular  distinction,  and 
are  regarded  without  alarm,  especially  in  the  lives  of 
those  who  have  been  willing  to  provoke  the  censure 
of  the  multitude  by  meriting  their  homage. 

Of  these  two  popular  leaders,  the  manners  and 
appearance  were  in  direct  opposition,  notwithstand- 
ing the  conformity  of  their  political  principles,  and 
their  equal  devotion  to  the  liberties  and  independence 
of  their  country;  and  this  dissimilarity  tended  no 
doubt  to  aggravate  the  passions  and  animosities  of  their 
adherents.  Mr.  Adams  was  poor,  and  in  his  dress  and 
manners,  simple  and  unadorned.  Hancock,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  numbered  with  the  richest  in- 
dividuals of  his  country.  His  equipage  was  splendid 
and  magnificent;  and  such  as  at  present  is  unknown 
in  America.  His  apparel,  was  sumptuously  embroid- 
ered with  gold  and  silver  and  lace,  and  all  the  other 
decorations  fashionable  amongst  men  of  fortune  of 
that  day;  he  rode,  especially  upon  public  occasions, 
with  six  beautiful  bays,  and  with  servants  in  livery. 
He  was  graceful  and  prepossessing  in  manners,  and 


HANCOCK.  21 

very  passionately  addicted  to  what  are  called  the  ele- 
gant pleasures  of  life,  to  dancing,  music,  concerts, 
routs,  assemblies,  card  parties,  rich  wines,  social 
dinners  and  festivities;  all  which  the  stern  republi- 
can virtues  of  Mr.  Adams  regarded  with  indifference, 
if  not  with  contempt 

He  had  been  appointed,  at  an  earlier  period  of 
his  political  career,  speaker  of  the  provincial  assem- 
bly, and  his  election,  in  a  written  communication 
from  the  governor,  was  disapproved;  he  had  been 
chosen  in  1767  to  the  executive  council,  and  expe- 
rienced, in  that  office  the  same  honourable  rejection. 
This  disapprobation,  which  had  been  continued  for 
many  years  and  had  become,  by  repetition,  essential 
to  his  fame,  was  now  suddenly  suspended,  and  the 
nomination  to  the  council  was  approved;  which  was 
regarded  as  no  equivocal  evidence  of  the  depravation 
of  his  principles.  To  counteract  the  effect  of  this 
invidious  immunity,  and  other  unprovoked  civilities 
of  the  governor,  Mr.  Hancock  refused  his  seat 
amongst  the  counsellors,  and  pronounced  soon  after- 
wards, his  oration  of  the  fifth  of  March,  to  which 
I  have  already  referred.  A  declaration  of  his  senti- 
ments, so  explicit,  furnished  him  a  victorious  and 
honourable  vindication,  and  contributed  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  renovation  of  his  popularity.  He  made 
also,  from  the  usual  tenderness  of  reconciliation. 


22  HANCOCK. 

new  acquisitions  of  affection  amongst  the  people, 
and  on  the  other  hand  incurred,  by  his  integrity,  the 
immediate  vengeance  of  the  British  government. 

He  had  hitherto  been  captain  of  the  cadet  com- 
pany or  guard  of  the  governor,  and  was  now  removed 
from  that  office  by  general  Gage.     The  company, 
returning  the  standard  they  had  received  upon  the 
accession  of  his  excellency,  disbanded  themselves  in 
testimony  of  their  resentment.  This  guard  was  com- 
posed of  some  of  the  most  respectable  inhabitants 
of  the  town  of  Boston.    Their  uniform  was  magnifi- 
cent, and  their  dexterity  in  martial  exercises  had  ex- 
cited the  praises  of  the  British  army.    Hancock,  in 
1767,  had  been  complimented  with  a  lieutenancy  by 
governor  Bernard;  but  declaring  his  determination 
to  hold  no  office  under  a  man  whose  vices  and  prin- 
ciples he  considered  hostile  to  the  liberties  of  his 
country,  tore  up  the  commission  in  the  presence  of 
many  citizens;  for  which  bold  act  he  received  the 
severe  reprehension  and  threats  of  the  royal  govern- 
or.   Soon  after  the  departure  of  this  officer  he  was 
chosen  captain,  with  the  rank  of  colonel;  a  station 
which  he  filled  with  great  respectability. 

The  last  instance,  during  the  British  administra- 
tion, of  the  parade  of  this  company,  was  at  the  funeral 
of  lieutenant  governor  Oliver,  under  the  chief  gov- 
ernment of  general  Gage:  when  Mr.  Samuel  Adams, 


HANCOCK.  23 

hearing  that  Hancock  designed,  with  the  company,  to 
perform  the  usual  military  honors  to  the  deceased, 
who  had  been  one  of  the  most  obnoxious  tories  of 
the  whole  continent,  hastened  to  dissuade  him  from 
his  purpose.  But  Hancock,  in  observing  to  his  friend 
that  the  honors  were  designed  for  the  office,  and 
not  the  man,  persisted  in  his  resolution.  This  inci- 
dent, as  it  shows  the  independence  of  the  character 
of  Mr.  Hancock,  as  well  as  the  propriety  of  his  prin- 
ciples, is  not  unworthy  of  remark. 

The  battle  of  Lexington  now  announced  the  com- 
mencement of  the  revolutionary  war.  To  gain  pos- 
session of  the  persons  of  Hancock  and  Adams,  who 
lodged  together  in  that  village,  was  one  of  the  mo- 
tives, it  is  said,  of  the  expedition  which  led  to  that  me- 
morable conflict.  The  design,  though  covered  with 
great  secrecy,  was  anticipated,  and  the  victims  esca- 
ped, upon  the  entrance  of  their  habitation  by  the  Bri- 
tish troops.  Thus,  by  the  felicitous  intervention  of  a 
moment,  were  rescued  from  a  virulent  enemy,  and 
perhaps  from  the  executioner,  those  who  were  to  con- 
tribute by  their  future  virtues,  to  the  revolution  of 
empires,  and  to  be  handed  down  to  posterity  as  the 
benefactors  of  mankind. 

The  defeat  of  the  English  in  this  battle  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  governor's  proclamation  declaring  the 
province   in  a  state  of  rebellion;  offering,  at   the 


24  HANCOCK. 

same  time,  pardon  to  all  whose  penitence  should  re- 
commend them  to  this  act  of  grace,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  those  notorious  offenders,  Samuel  Adams  and 
John  Hancock.  These,  by  the  enormity  of  their  guilt, 
which  was  declared  too  flagitious  for  impunity,  were 
reserved  to  propitiate  the  ferocity  of  the  royal  ven- 
geance. But  this  signal  and  glorious  denunciation,  less 
the  effect  of  good  policy,  than  of  passion,  advanced 
these  popular  chiefs  upon  the  lists  of  fame;  they  were 
every  where  hailed  with  increased  acclamations  and 
applauses,  and  not  only  by  their  illustrious  merits,  but 
by  the  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed,  were  en- 
deared to  the  affections  of  their  countrymen. 

Hancock,  in  October  1774,  was  unanimously  elect- 
ed president  of  the  provincial  congress  of  Massachu- 
setts. In  the  year  1775,  he  attained  the  meridian  of 
his  political  distinction  and  the  highest  honour  that 
the  confidence  or  the  esteem  of  his  compatriots  could 
bestow  upon  him;  being  made  president  of  the  con- 
tinental congress.  By  his  long  experience  in  busi- 
ness, as  moderator  of  the  town  meetings,  president 
and  speaker  of  the  provincial  assemblies  and  con- 
ventions, during  times  of  great  turbulence  and  com- 
motion, in  his  native  state,  he  was  eminently  quali- 
fied, as  well  as  by  his  natural  dignity  of  manners,  to 
preside  in  this  great  council  of  the  nation. 


HANCOCK.  25 

When  the  chair  of  the  presidency  was  offered  him, 
he  is  said,  however,  to  have  received  the  intelligence 
with  embarrassment  and  hesitation;  from  what  sen- 
timents F  do  not  pretend  to  determine.  By  some  it 
has  been  attributed  to  a  consciousness  of  inferiority ; 
for  there  is  no  honorable  action  or  sentiment  of  virtue 
amongst  men,  that,  by  the  ingenious  malignity  of  hu- 
man reason,  may  not  be  ascribed  to  a  mean  or  a  dis- 
honorable motive.  Having  passed  by  a  regular  gra- 
dation through  the  various  offices  of  state,  it  is 
however,  reasonable  to  suppose,  that  he  was  neither 
abashed  by  novelty,  nor  terrified  by  precipitate  eleva- 
tion; and  being  already  upon  the  lists  of  proscription, 
and  living  in  commerce  with  dangers,  that  his  emo- 
tions were  not  produced,  on  this  occasion,  by  a  heart- 
less pusillanimity.  Modesty,  it  is  at  least  well  known 
from  the  never  failing  experience  of  life,  is  not  the 
offspring  of  ignorance,  nor  is  wisdom  engendered  by 
presumption.  Of  Washington,  it  has  likewise  been 
remarked,  that  in  receiving  the  chief  command  of  the 
army,  he  discovered  the  same  insubordination  of  feel- 
ing; which  the  historian  will  not  fail  to  enumerate 
amongst  the  virtues  of  that  great  man. 

That  there  were  in  this  assembly,  personages  of  a 

superior  age  to  that  of  Mr.  Hancock,  and  men,  at  the 

same  time,  of  preeminent  virtues  and  talents,  will  not 

be  denied;  who  required  at  least  some  indications  of 
vol.  i.  i  i 


26  HANCOCK. 

deference,  from  a  generous  mind,  in  reverence  of 
their  merits,  it  was,  besides,  an  occasion  upon  which 
calmness  and  composure  had  be*en  little  commenda- 
ble; and  upon  which  indifference,  or  a  haughty  and 
supercilious  confidence  had  been  criminal  in  him 
who  was  crowned  with  the  principal  honors.  For 
rarely  in  the  vicissitudes  of  nations,  has  it  happened 
that  interests  more  sacred  have  been  confided  to  the 
infirmity  of  human  wisdom  or  integrity;  and  that  a 
spectacle  more  imposing  has  been  exhibited  to  hu- 
man observation. 

Mr.  Hancock  was  relieved  from  this  timorous  sen- 
sibility, it  is  said,  by  the  obtrusion  of  some  strong 
nerved  member  of  the  south,  who  led  him  or  bore 
him  to  the  chair;  and  when  placed  in  that  office,  he 
presided  over  it  with  a  dignity  and  capacity  that  extor- 
ted the  respect  and  approbation  even  of  his  enemies. 

But  the  operations  of  corporate  assemblies,  how- 
ever glorious  and  however  honourable  they  may  be,  it 
is  rarely  permitted  to  adduce  in  testimony  of  indi- 
vidual merit;  and,  in  the  present  instance,  Mr.  Han- 
cock being  excluded  from  public  discussions,  and 
from  the  deliberations  of  committees,  by  the  injunc- 
tions of  his  office,  details  are  inadmissible  in  the  illus- 
tration of  his  character.  The  common  transactions  of 
this  assembly,  in  which  he  displayed  no  inferiority 
of  zeal,  industry  or  integrity,  must,  therefore,  be 


HANCOCK.  27 

passed  without  enumeration;  although  they  are  re- 
ferred to  the  most  splendid  period  of  his  life,  and  are 
alone  sufficient  to  dignify  and  protect  his  memory 
amongst  the  latest  generations  of  mankind. 

The  declaration  of  independence,  though  signed 
by  all  the  members  of  the  congress,  was  accompa- 
nied in  its  first  publication  by  the  signature  of  Mr. 
Hancock  alone;  an  accidental  association,  which, 
although  it  conferred  no  special  title  to  praise  beyond 
his  colleagues,  preoccupied  the  admiration  of  the  pub- 
lic, and  contributed,  in  no  small  degree,  to  the  exten- 
sion of  his  fame. 

In  October  of  1777,  having  for  two  years  and  a 
half,  sustained  the  duties  of  the  presidency  of  con- 
gress, Mr.  Hancock,  wasted  by  unremitting  appli- 
cation to  business  and  by  the  severity  of  the  gout, 
which  had  rendered  his  health  infirm  and  precarious, 
resigned  his  office;  and  amidst  the  felicitations  of 
his  countrymen,  who  contended  with  each  other  in 
the  magnificence  of  their  applauses  and  demonstra- 
tions of  respect,  retired  to  his  native  province. 

A  convention  was,  about  this  time,  appointed  to 
frame  a  constitution  for  the  state  of  Massachusetts, 
to  which  he  was  elected,  and  with  his  usual  diligence 
and  fidelity  assisted  in  their  deliberations.  On  all 
occasions,  he  had  favoured  republican  institutions; 
and,  on  the  present,  contended  for  the  moderation  of 
the  executive  authority. 


28  HANCOCK. 

He  was  elected  in  1780,  governor  of  the  common- 
wealth; the  first  who  was  appointed  under  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  new  constitution,  and  derived  his  power 
from  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  He  was  annually 
continued  in  that  office  until  the  year  1785,  when  he 
resigned;  and,  after  an  intermission  of  two  years,  du- 
ring which  he  had  been  succeeded  by  Mr.  Bowdoin, 
was  reelected;,  and  remained  in  the  chair  until  the 
conclusion  of  his  life. 

Hancock  had  been  involved  during  the  early  peri- 
od of  his  career,  in  the  perpetual  turbulence  of  the 
revolution ;  nor  was  he  permitted,  in  the  conclusion  of 
it,  to  enjoy  the  blandishments  of  tranquillity.  The  ac- 
cumulation of  debts  during  the  war,  and  the  necessity 
of  a  cumbrous  imposition  of  taxes  for  their  diminu- 
tion; added  to  the  usual  depravation  of  morals  or 
disqualification  for  civil  occupations,  consequent  to  a 
long  suspension  of  the  arts  of  industry,  had  filled  the 
community  with  various  griefs,  and  necessities;  and 
had  diffused  in  the  whole  country  a  spirit  of  insubor- 
dination, which  threatened  the  subversion  of  all  order 
and  government. 

Associations  were  first  formed  amongst  the  most 
seditious,  to  solicit  a  redress  of  grievances;  a  mea- 
sure which  they  sanctioned  under  the  example  of  the 
late  revolution;  and  bewailing  the  public  distress 
with  bitter   and  pathetic  lamentations,  or  urging 


HANCOCK.  29 

their  pretensions  with  specious  and  patriotic  expres- 
sions, the  ordinary  rhetoric  of  rebellion,  the  youthful, 
the  imprudent  and  restless  were  soon  allured  to  their 
standard;  became  the  proselytes  of  their  iniquity  and 
the  associates  of  their  crimes;  for  the  mass  of  man- 
kind are  governed  by  names,  and  sacrifice,  with  a 
most  heedless  improvidence,  their  honesty  as  well  as 
their  felicity  to  the  modulation  of  agreeable  sounds. 

The  force  of  this  faction,  in  New  England,  was 
estimated  at  twelve  thousand  persons.  The  majority 
of  the  people,  were,  especially  in  Massachusetts,  in- 
disposed to  the  government;  and  many  of  them  de- 
vised the  total  demolition  of  it.  The  most  audacious, 
some  of  whom  had  penetrated  even  into  the  sanctu- 
ary of  the  legislature,  demanded  an  abolition  of  debts 
and  taxes,  and  an  equal  distribution  of  property; 
which  they  considered  as  a  just  reward  of  the  toils 
they  had  encountered  in  the  late  war;  and  amidst  the 
inflammatory  and  seditions  harangues  of  these  fero- 
cious incendiaries,  the  whole  state  was  embroiled  in 
disorder  and  insurrection. 

The  provinces,  being  erected  into  disconnected 
republics,  of  which  the  institutions  were  yet  recent 
and  unconfirmed,  opposed  a  feeble  barrier  to  the 
impetuosity  of  the  torrent.  The  first  outrages  were 
exercised  against  the  officers  of  justice,  who  by  acts 
of  violence,  were  restrained  from  the   administra- 


30  HANCOCK. 

tion  of  their  duties;  and  depredations  were  some- 
times made  upon  the  property  of  individuals.  The 
governor,  and  the  general  assembly,  having  used 
many  efforts  of  conciliation,  by  temporising  expedi- 
ents, which  never  fail  to  increase  the  insolence  of  a 
riotous  multitude,  employed  against  them,  at  length, 
four  thousand  of  the  militia;  and  the  insurgents  be- 
ing destitute  of  a  head  to  direct  their  operations,  af- 
ter a  resistance  altogether  inadequate  to  the  appre- 
hensions they  had  excited,  a  few  only  being  killed, 
or  wounded,  and  many  made  prisoners,  the  rest  were 
dispersed.  They  maintained,  nevertheless,  a  dan- 
gerous predominance  in  the  state,  and  riot  and  dis- 
order still  subsisted  until  the  year  1787,  when,  by  the 
agency  of  Mr.  Hancock,  at  that  time  governor,  they 
were  finally  repressed,  with  a  celerity  that  merited 
universal  applause.  The  principals,  to  the  number 
of  fourteen,  having  surrendered,  were  condemned  by 
the  supreme  court  to  suffer  capitally  for  their  treason; 
but  were  reprieved  by  the  interposition  of  the  gover- 
nor. This  act  of  clemency,  was  however  attributed, 
by  some  of  the  more  rigid  republicans  of  those 
times,  to  a  want  of  energy,  nor  did  it  pass  without 
severe  animadversions. 

At  this  period  of  factious  disorder,  and  especially 
during  his  competition  for  the  office  of  governor, 
Hancock  did  not  escape  reprehension.     He  Was  as- 


HANCOCK.  31 

sailed  by  antagonists  who  were  neither  impotent  in 
genius  nor  inconsiderable  in  numbers,  with  great 
virulence  and  animosity.  He  appears,  however,  to 
have  been  more  sensible  to  the  commendations  of 
his  countrymen,  than  moved  by  their  reproaches; 
for,  during  his  life  he  employed  no  official  vindica- 
tions, either  of  supplication  or  revenge,  and  no  ex- 
pedients to  propitiate  slander;  whilst,  on  all  occasions, 
he  received  the  homage  of  the  people,  with  the 
most  sensible  elevation  of  feeling,  and  courted  it 
perhaps  with  intemperance.  Obloquy  is  the  usual 
attendant  of  human  elevation,  and  amidst  the  various 
and  conflicting  passions  of  republican  communities, 
awakened  by  a  contention  for  public  honours;  amidst 
the  empty  conceits  or  extravagant  presumptions  of 
the  ignorant,  the  malignity  of  the  vicious,  and  the 
emulation  of  rivals,  to  expect  an  exemption  from  it, 
would  discover  indeed  little  depth  of  understanding, 
or  a  very  limited  experience  of  human  nature. 

But  the  repression  of  disorder  and  faction  in  the 
state,  towards  the  conclusion  of  his  life,  and  the 
salutary  diligence  of  his  administration  appeased 
almost  entirely  these  resentments  and  animosities  of 
party. 

His  agency  in  promoting  the  adoption  of  the  fe- 
deral constitution,  may  be  mentioned  with  the  ob- 
jects  which    most  recommended   him   to   esteem 


32  HANCOCK. 

amongst  his  cotemporaries,  and  which  entitle  him 
to  the  regards  of  posterity. 

An  opposition  to  this  system  of  government  ex- 
isted in  many  parts  of  the  continent,  and,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, the  majority  of  the  convention  were 
supposed  to  disapprove  it.  Of  this  assembly,  Han- 
cock, who  was  believed  to  be  averse  to  the  confede- 
ration, had  been  elected  president,  but  by  sickness, 
had  been  withdrawn  from  their  deliberations  until 
the  last  week  of  the  session.  He  then  appeared  and 
voted  in  its  favour;  and  to  his  diligence  in  removing, 
by  appropriate  amendments,  the  apprehensions  and 
objections  of  many  in  the  opposition,  added  to  his 
address  and  authority  upon  this  occasion,  is  usually 
ascribed  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  Massa- 
chusetts; and  with  no  greater  ornament  could  we  de- 
sire to  complete  the  monument  of  his  fame,  than  by 
recording  his  instrumentality  in  the  promotion  of  a 
measure  so  indispensible  to  the  glory  and  prosperity 
of  his  country. 

He  did  not,  however,  in  favouring  a  confederate 
republic,  vindicate  with  less  scrupulous  vigilance 
the  dignity  of  the  individual  states.  In  a  suit  com- 
menced against  Massachusetts,  by  the  court  of  the 
United  States,  in  which  he  was  summoned  upon  a 
writ,  as  governor,  to  answer  the  prosecution,  he  re- 
sisted the  process,  and  maintained  inviolate  the  sove- 


HANCOCK.  33 

reignty  of  the  commonwealth.  A  recurrence  of  ft 
similar  collision  of  authority  was,  in  consequence  of 
this  opposition,  prevented  by  an  amendment  of  the 
federal  constitution. 

This  incident  is  enumerated  amongst  the  latest 
events  of  his  administration  and  of  his  life.  He  died 
suddenly  on  the  8th  of  October,  1 793,  and  in  the  55th 
year  of  his  age.  During  several  days,  his  body  lay 
in  state  at  his  mansion,  where  great  multitudes 
thronged  to  pay  the  last  offices  of  their  grief  and  af- 
fection. His  obsequies  were  attended  with  great 
pomp  and  solemnity,  and  amidst  the  tears  of  his 
countrymen,  he  was  committed  to  the  dust. 

He  had  married,  about  twenty  years  before  his 
death,  Miss  Quincy,  daughter  of  an  eminent  magistrate 
of  Boston,  and  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  distin- 
guished families  in  New  England.  By  this  matri- 
monial connection  he  had  afforded  new  pledges  of 
his  fidelity,  and  acquired  additional  influence  and 
zeal  in  the  service  of  his  country.  No  children  were, 
however,  left  to  inherit  his  fortune  or  perpetuate  his 
name;  his  only  son  having  died  during  his  youth. 

Having  now  related  the  principal  events  of  the  life 
of  Mr.  Hancock,  it  may  be  permitted  to  add  something 
more  particular  of  his  person  and  character.  In  sta- 
ture he  was  above  the  middle  size,  of  excellent  pro- 
portion of  limbs,  of  extreme  benignity  of  counter 
vol.  i.  K  k 


34  HANCOCK. 

nance;  possessing  a  flexible  and  harmonious  voice, 
a  manly  and  dignified  aspect.  By  the  improvement 
of  these  natural  qualities  from  observation  and  ex- 
tensive intercourse  with  the  world,  he  had  acquired 
a  pleasing  elocution  with  the  most  graceful  and  con- 
ciliating manners;  acquisitions  which  are  perhaps 
less  fitted  to  the  austere  virtues  of  a  republic  than 
to  the  glitter  and  magnificence  of  monarchy;  but 
were  used  by  Mr.  Hancock,  in  arts  so  liberal  and 
beneficial  to  his  country,  that  the  most  unsocial  and 
supercilious  advocate  of  sobriety,  will  pardon  him 
the  possession  of  them. 

Of  his  talents  it  is  a  sufficient  evidence,  that,  in  the 
various  stations  to  which  his  fortune  had  elevated 
him  in  the  republic,  he  acquitted  himself  with  an 
honourable  distinction  and  capacity.  His  communi- 
cations to  the  general  assembly  and  his  correspond- 
ence as  president  of  congress,  are  titles  of  no  ordi- 
nary commendation.  Of  extensive  erudition  he  has 
given  no  positive  testimony.  His  knowledge  was 
practical  and  familiar.  He  neither  penetrated  the 
intricacies  of  profound  research,  nor  did  he  mount 
inaccessible  elevations. 

From  the  progress  of  society  in  America,  during 
the  age  in  which  he  lived,  when  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  inhabitants  were  dispersed  over  a  vast  and 
rugged  territory,  and  engaged  in  laborious  occupa- 


HANCOCK.  35 

tions,  it  may  be  reasonably  inferred  that  there  existed 
no  very  powerful  incentives  to  literary  emulation;  and 
without  this  vivifying  principle,  which  animates  to  la- 
bour and  softens  the  austerities  of  mental  applica- 
tion, the  qualities  of  the  most  generous  nature  may 
be  consigned  to  oblivion  and  obscurity.  Corrup- 
tion may  be  luminous  in  the  dark,  but  of  solid  bo- 
dies the  fire  is  struck  out  by  collision.  There  was 
besides  no  trade  or  occupation  which  produced,  at 
that  period,  in  the  colonies,  an  opprobrious  distinc- 
tion; commercial  pursuits  were  especially  the  ave- 
nues to  wealth  and  to  honours,  and  poverty  was  en- 
dured with  impunity. 

These  causes  may  have  repressed  in  some  degree, 
the  cultivation  of  those  arts  which  are  co-ordinate 
with  a  luxurious  and  crowded  population;  and  the 
muses,  in  the  bustle  of  more  profitable  devotions, 
may  have  been  partially  neglected;  but,  from  the  con- 
nexion which  his  fortune,  business,  and  travels  into 
Europe  had  given  him  with  the  world,  Hancock  had 
acquired  an  extensive  knowledge  of  human  nature; 
and,  from  the  political  discussions  in  which  he  was 
early  and  perpetually  involved,  had  enriched  his  un- 
derstanding with  acquisitions,  not  less  various,  and 
accommodated  to  the  purposes  of  life,  or  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  mind,  than  are  usually  attained  in 
the  shade  of  literary  retirement,  either  under  the  lash 


36*  HANCOCK. 

of  the  pedagogue,  or  from  the  official  lectures  of  the 
professor. 

Of  the  other  statesmen  and  warriors  of  the  revo- 
lution, and  especially  of  the  members  of  the  continen- 
tal congress,  it  may  be  observed,  that  in  wisdom  and 
intelligence,  as  well  as  integrity  and  magnanimity,  they 
suffer  no  degradation  in  being  compared  with  the 
most  illustrious  patriots  of  ancient  or  modern  times. 

As  an  orator,  Mr.  Hancock  spoke  without  elabora- 
tion or  pretension,  but  agreeably  on  all  subjects.  His 
harangues  are,  perhaps,  destitute  of  that  originality 
of  thought,  or  felicity  of  expression  that  constitutes 
the  excellence  of  a  cultivated  genius,  but  exhibit,  as 
far  as  we  have  perused  them,  no  common  compre- 
hension of  things  or  powers  of  language,  and  were 
especially  well  suited,  at  the  time  in  which  he  lived, 
to  popular  declamation. 

That  he  derived  from  the  dispositions  of  nature 
and  the  habits  of  discipline,  many  excellent  virtues, 
may  be  affirmed,  as  well  on  the  testimony  of  his 
cotemporaries  who  knew  him,  as  from  a  reference  to 
the  incidents  of  his  life.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  no 
trivial  commendation,  that  at  an  age  when  the  vani- 
ties of  human  nature  are  predominant,  possessing  a 
superfluity  of  wealth,  liberal  sentiments,  and  being,  at 
the  same  time,  exempt  from  parental  authority,  he  be- 
took himself  to  honorable  and  laborious  occupations 


HANCOCK.  37 

rather  than  to  indulgence  or  youthful  profusion;  and 
that  he  did  not  grow  arrogant  or  insolent,  from  the 
superiority  of  his  advantages,  entitles  him  to  no  small 
degree  of  praise.  In  those  countries  in  which  titles  or 
pedigree  preoccupy  the  honours  of  the  state,  money 
is  devested  of  a  portion  of  its  power  upon  the  mind; 
but,  in  republics,  where  it  bestows  an  unrivalled  pre- 
eminence, many  excellent  and  great  qualities  of  the 
heart,  are  essential  to  counteract  its  malignant  in- 
fluence. 

The  munificence  and  generosity  of  his  character 
are  admitted  by  universal  consent;  though  not  without 
the  imputations  and  cavils  to  which  all  human  per- 
fections are  subject,  from  the  interpretation  of  igno- 
rance and  malevolence.  By  his  enemies  it  has  been 
remarked  not  unfrequently  that  his  acts  of  liberality, 
his  colloquial  accomplishments,  and  other  faculties 
of  persuasion  were  exerted  wholly  in  the  acquisition 
of  popularity.  That  he  courted  this  capricious  di- 
vinity with  too  great  devotion,  may  perhaps  be  allow- 
ed; that  he  did  it  with  success,  admits  of  no  doubt,  for, 
he  is  remembered  as  the  most  popular  individual  of 
Massachusetts,  of  his  own  or  any  other  time.  But  the 
desire  of  popularity  is  the  impulse  of  a  generous  spi- 
rit, the  spring  of  noble  actions,  and  that  of  Mr.  Han- 
cock was  founded  upon  no  meretricious  devices,  no 
arts  of  a  demagogue,  no  obliquity  of  morals,  and  no 
prostration  of  dignity  or  honor. 


38  HANCOCK. 

Of  this  clement  of  his  character,  as  it  is  perhaps 
the  most  godlike  virtue  of  human  nature,  a  few  ex- 
amples may  be  permitted  in  illustration. 

Previous  to  the  demise  of  his  paternal  uncle,  whom 
I  have  already  mentioned  as  his  patron  and  benefac- 
tor, the  hall  of  the  university  had  been  destroyed  by 
fire.  The  deceased,  it  was  said,  had  expressed  the 
intention  of  leaving  five  hundred  pounds  for  the  re- 
paration of  its  library.  No  such  appropriation  was, 
however,  made  by  his  will;  yet  the  sum  was  paid, 
without  hesitation,  by  his  heir. 

The  salary  allowed  by  the  constitution  to  the  chief 
magistrate  of  the  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts, 
had  occupied,  for  several  years,  the  debates  of  the 
legislature.  It  was  declared  to  be  exorbitant,  and 
was  enumerated  amongst  the  various  grievances  that 
had  occasioned  riot  and  insurrection  in  the  state. 
An  act  for  its  reduction  from  eleven  to  eight  hundred 
pounds,  had  passed  both  houses  of  the  legislature, 
but  was  negatived  by  the  governor;  and  the  subject 
being  resumed,  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Han- 
cock, he  intercepted  all  farther  discussion  of  it,  by 
a  voluntary  remission  of  the  sum. 

In  1775,  it  was  proposed  by  the  American  officers 
who  carried  on  the  siege  of  Boston,  that  they  might 
procure  the  expulsion  of  the  enemy,  to  bombard  or 
destroy  the  town.    The  entire  wealth  of  Mr.  Han- 


HANCOCK.  39 

eock  was  exposed,  by  the  execution  of  this  enter- 
prize,  to  inevitable  ruin;  and  whilst  he  felt  for  the 
sufferings  of  others  with  a  very  generous  compassion, 
he  required  that  no  regard  to  his  personal  interests 
should  obstruct  the  operations  of  the  army.  His  pri- 
vate fortune,  he  observed,  should  on  no  occasion, 
oppose  an  obstacle  to  the  liberties  of  his  country. 

An  enterprize  was  undertaken  in  1778,  in  co-ope- 
ration with  the  fleet  of  the  French  admiral  D'Estaing 
against  Newport,  in  Rhode  Island,  by  a  detachment 
from  the  regular  army  under  Washington,  and  se- 
ven thousand  of  the  militia  of  New  England,  which 
excited  in  the  whole  continent  the  most  extravagant 
expectations.  On  the  arrival  of  these  troops  in  the  isl- 
and, the  fleet  of  lord  Howe  appeared  upon  the  coast. 
D'Estaing  regardless  of  his  obligations  with  the  Ame- 
rican troops,  instead  of  supporting,  assisting  and  de- 
fending them,  and  solicitous  only  for  his  own  glory, 
hastened  to  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy,  and  exposed 
the  army  of  his  allies  to  all  the  calamities  of  a  de- 
feat and  disgrace.  In  consequence  of  this  manoeuvre, 
the  Americans  were  left  in  the  midst  of  innumerable 
difficulties  and  dangers,  to  make  good  their  retreat; 
which  they  achieved,  however,  without  the  loss  of 
artillery  or  baggage;  and  the  fleet  arrived  at  the 
same .  time  in  the  harbour,  shattered  by  a  furious 
storm. 


40  HANCOCK. 

Under  these  circumstances  the  French  were  not 
received  in  Boston  with  the  usual  hospitality  of  its 
inhabitants,  and  in  many  instances,  with  a  sullen  dis- 
pleasure, and  symptoms  of  irritation  which  threat- 
ened the  most  violent  effects;  but  Mr.  Hancock,  inter- 
posing, on  this  occasion,  relieved  his  country  from 
this  threatening  calamity,  by  his  conciliating  man- 
ners and  unbounded  hospitality.  His  house,  which 
was  elegant  and  spacious,  was  thrown  open  with 
rich  wines,  and  every  species  of  splendid  enter- 
tainment, to  the  French  admiral  and  all  his  officers, 
from  thirty  to  forty  of  whom  dined  every  day  at  his 
table.  In  addition  to  which,  he  gave,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, a  grand  public  ball  at  Concert  Hall,  attended 
by  the  Count,  his  officers,  with  the  principal  ladies 
and  gentlemen  of  the  town.  Thus  harmony  was  re- 
stored, a  friendly  intercourse  with  the  inhabitants 
was  reestablished,  which  terminated  in  a  recipro- 
cation of  esteem  and  respect. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  particulars  I 
might  enumerate,  did  the  subject  require  a  further 
illustration;  for  there  are,  indeed,  few  lives,  either 
ancient  or  modern,  that  afford,  of  disinterested  gene- 
rosity, more  frequent  and  illustrious  examples.  Cha- 
rity was  the  common  business  of  his  life.  From  his 
private  benevolence,  a  thousand  families  received 
their  daily  bread;  and  there  is  perhaps  no  individual 


HANCOCK.  41 

mentioned  in  history,  who  has  expended  a  more  am- 
ple fortune  in  promoting  the  liberties  of  his  country. 

Social  amusements  were  courted  by  Mr.  Hancock, 
with  a  very  passionate  inclination.  His  habitation, 
was  every  day  crowded  with  guests,  either  of  citizens 
or  strangers  who  were  allured  by  the  intelligence  of 
his  conversation,  or  the  splendour  of  his  hospitality; 
whom  he  entertained  however,  with  no  riotous  dissi- 
pation, but  with  a  becoming  elegance  and  propriety; 
nor  is  he  to  be  censured,  if  offering  to  his  countrymen 
no  example  of  insolence,  or  illiberal  debauch;  if  using 
the  beneficence  of  fortune,  he  sometimes  relieved  the 
austerities  of  occupation  or  softened  the  clamors  of 
faction  by  the  pleasures  of  a  generous  festivity.  He 
encountered,  in  the  promotion  of  honest  enterprises, 
many  labours  and  dangers;  and  has  left  upon  the  re- 
cords of  his  country,  a  testimony  which  the  malevo- 
lence of  time  cannot  destroy,  that  no  seductions  of 
pleasure,  that  not  even  the  decrepitude  of  disease 
withheld  him  from  the  service  of  the  republic. 

His  exertions  were  employed,  it  should  also  be  re- 
membered, not  only  without  intermission,  but  from 
the  minutest  to  the  most  exalted  duties  of  a  states- 
man ;  from  the  humble  debates  of  a  town  meeting,  to 
the  deliberations  of  a  senate.  And  to  have  retained, 
for  the  most  part,  with  a  frank  and  generous  dispo- 
sition, with  a  familiarity  of  intercourse  and  continual 
vol,  i.  l  1 


42  HANCOCK. 

exhibition,  the  evanescent  affections  of  the  multi- 
tude;  and  this,  too,  amidst  the  factious  passions  of  a 
revolution,  implies  no  ordinary  dexterity  and  address. 
For  what  is  there  in  moral  or  physical  excellence 
that  does  not  lose,  by  frequency,  the  admiration  of 
mortals? — Genius  is  devested  of  her  sublimity,  wit 
of  her  ornaments,  and  even  virtue  is  disrobed  of  her 
majesty  by  exposure  to  their  capricious  observation. 

No  being  has  yet  reached  an  elevation  of  human 
honours,  inaccessible  to  the  arrows  of  defamation: 
he  is  neither  shielded  by  the  innocence  of  his  life, 
nor  is  he  protected  by  the  sacredness  of  the  tomb: 
and  to  ask  why  Hancock  sometimes  sustained  in  a 
free  state,  interruptions  of  his  popularity,  is  a  vain 
disquisition.  It  is  to  ask  why  those  whom  the  world 
should  regard  with  veneration,  have  been  persecuted 
with  outrageous  and  unrelenting  malevolence;  why 
Aristides  languished  in  exile,  or  Miltiades  perished 
in  a  dungeon. 

We  must  not,  however,  in  the  detail  of  his  merits, 
lavish  unqualified  praise;  for,  exorbitant  as  well  as 
inadequate  commendations,  are  often  no  less  inju- 
rious to  the  reputation  of  great  men,  than  malignant 
censure.  Evil  qualities  usually  spring  up  in  the  most 
generous  and  liberal  nature,  which  the  most  sedulous 
discipline  may  fail  to  eradicate.  In  the  fertility  of  the 
same  soil,  the  noxious  plant  vegetates  with  the  mild 


'HANCOCK.  43 

and  wholesome  aliments  of  life.  That  Hancock  had 
blemishes  of  character,  as  he  was  a  man,  must, 
therefore,  be  admitted; 

Nam  vitiis  nemo  sine  naseitur, 

but  none  have  been  transmitted  to  us,  not  even  by 
the  resentments  of  faction,  which  bear  the  imputation 
of  a  crime;  and  it  appears  neither  useful  nor  honor- 
able to  inquire  with  a  scrupulous  ingenuity,  into  the 
trivial  imperfections  of  men  who  have  great  and  pre- 
dominating virtues.  The  censure  of  cotemporaries 
may  indeed,  admit  some  excuse  in  a  sufficiently 
honest  principle  of  human  nature,  the  impatience  or 
disdain  of  superiority;  and  the  acrimony  of  party  spi- 
rit may  afford  some  plea  for  the  violation  of  more 
sacred  obligations;  but  it  is  neither  pious,  nor  can  it 
be  grateful  in  posterity,  to  perpetuate  these  rival  ani- 
mosities. 


